Percy Jackson and the Council's Army
by Jash Parikh
Summary: A daughter of Venus arrives at Camp Jupiter claiming to be Octavian's sister. Her words convince the Romans that Percy Jackson was the cause of Octavian's murder. A huge uproar results in unrest between both camps. To maintain peace and avoid a war with their Roman counterparts, a teary-eyed Chiron and a certain daughter of Athena ask Percy to leave camp. DETAILED SUMMARY AT START.
1. 0 - Summary

SUMMARY:

The war is over, the demigods, especially our hero Percy Jackson hopes to breathe a sigh of relief and have his happily ever after with Annabeth Chase.

In comes Gwen, a daughter of Venus claiming to be Octavian's sister. When her lies and accusations threaten to create a rift between the newly formed Alliance between the Greeks and Romans, Chiron and Annabeth think it best to banish Percy from camp to avoid war.

Devastated from the betrayal, miserable, as he has nowhere to go, he stumbles across an ancient deity in a secluded forest while going nowhere in particular. The deity offers Percy a job. A job that requires a lot of killing the bad people

However, Percy feels too bitter and broken to do well.

Meanwhile, another deity is planning revenge on someone. This deity emanates raw power and is considered one of the most powerful in the universe. In addition, he wishes to attack earth. Camp half-blood precisely.

What side will the hero of Olympus choose? When a nefarious plot threatens Earth and he has to choose, what will happen?

With the enemy so powerful and the campers so hopelessly outnumbered, and with the option of revenge available, will he snap? Will the ghosts of his past haunt him? Or will he conquer them and go on to win the war for the ones that betrayed him? Will he abandon his family? Will he choose vengeance over forgiveness? Will the campers pay for their betrayal? Or will their hero once again try to save the day in such a suicidal war?

Find out only in "Percy Jackson and The Council's Army", a book full of twists and turns if you read until the end.

Cover made by AlPriceless


	2. 1 - The One With the Hero

ON EARTH BEFORE PERCY LEFT,

PERCY'S POV

The war had finally ended and all of us had made through alive, even Leo had come back, and that too with Calypso. We expected the Gods to blast him because technically, he broke Calypso out of the prison the Gods had ordered her to be in. However, surprisingly they have taken no action against or in support of Leo's deeds. We are hoping they realized that Calypso was not an evil titan like her father Atlas and she is freed from her punishment, but you never know with the Olympians.

Everything was going smoothly; things were normal, or at least as normal as can be for a demigod. Monster attacks were reduced to one fourth; the Gods had resumed contact with us though nothing was heard of Apollo. Jason and Piper decided to settle at Camp Half-Blood, but Jason's promise of continuing what I started - equality and recognition to all Gods made him hardly free... he would travel a lot between camps. The Roman Senate had elected him the Pontifex Maximus. Frank and Hazel were going good, but of course, Frank was very busy rebuilding Rome with his fellow Praetor Reyna.

Leo decided to stay at Half-Blood and Calypso was welcomed in the camp with open arms... of course, there were few who would insult her or blame her due to her parentage but they would soon find themselves with clothes ablaze courtesy her boyfriend. I and Annabeth decided to settle in New Rome for a few years to get some peace and were moving there in two weeks. I recently talked to dad and when he congratulated me and said he was proud of me, I may or may not have blushed a bit. I was thankful to the fates for such a relaxed life. I could use all this post two back to back wars, but unfortunately, the fates had something else planned for me.

An IM appeared in front of me and there was Reyna, in her purple praetor's toga and Cape looking all regal and commanding. "Reyna! hi!" but my cheery tone vanished when I saw her expression. "What happened Reyna? Why are you looking so worried?"

"Percy, we have a problem here. I don't know how to say this any other way, but you can't come here. I'm sorry"

"What?! but why? I thought you started trusting the Greeks! I thought we were friends! What happened so suddenly? '

"It's... complicated."

"Tell me, I'm sure I can keep up" my tone was a bit hurt, this was certainly not what I'd been expecting.

"It's for your own good Percy. The problem is Gwen, a child of Venus. She recently found camp but she's quite old... 14 years. She may have survived since she isn't that powerful. But her parentage is not her problem, her mortal mother's family is. She claims Octavian was her cousin. Unfortunately, she blames you for his death. While the senior campers who have seen you in action and know your nature don't believe her, the others have started believing it. A few of them have even branded you a murderer. I tried to convince many of them but I fear only some are convinced, and I don't know for how long they will support you."

"I hate this girl Percy, because I know she is lying, Argentum and Aurum are always ready to rip her apart, but Frank believes her so I cannot order her death. In fact, Frank is so convinced by this girl he had a huge fight with Hazel about you. Frank broke up with Hazel for her! But right now people here are angry with you and speak of breaking alliances with the Greeks unless you are not punished for your 'supposed' crime. So right now don't come here, Percy. I'm sorry it has come to this, but I hope you understand."

I was so shocked it took Reyna a full two minutes and two extra drachmas to get me back.

"It's okay Reyna. I understand it is not your fault. At least you tried. It's Frank and the Romans I'm disappointed in. Tell Hazel I am sorry and that she doesn't need to pick up fights for my sake. Anyways, thanks for the heads up, I will talk to Annabeth and we will let Chiron know we are staying here, I am sure he will be delighted. By the way, do I tell him of the situation at Camp Jupiter or will you tell him personally? And are you visiting camp with all the Romans day after tomorrow as we planned to capture the flag? "

"Thank you for understanding Percy. Yes. We are visiting just like we planned. And tomorrow is also our senate meeting on what are we going to do about your case. As to the call, I'd like to personally call Chiron and explain things to him. Now I have to go. Take care and don't be disheartened Percy, I'm sure things will be alright. Bye. "

" Thanks, Reyna. Bye. "And with that, she swiped her hand and the mist disappeared. When I sought Annabeth and told her everything, she wanted to wring this Gwen girl's neck; and I thought, I have my wise girl with me, nothing can go wrong. But boy, was I wrong.

The day came when the Romans had planned their visit. They came in an army formation and were visibly angry, glaring at me. Everyone except me, Annabeth and Chiron were confused. So Reyna told Chiron the situation there.

The Romans stayed for a week... a week that was pure hell for me. Gwen would steal stuff from campers and blame me for all of it, she destroyed the forest and blamed me for it so the nymphs blamed were pissed off at me, she destroyed the garden, stole the prank materials from the Hermes cabin and so on. Eventually, instead of Greeks and Romans, the two groups left were Percy and anti-Percy. The ones with me were Annabeth, Chiron, Jason, Piper, Hazel and surprisingly Clarisse. But in a few days, all I had left was Annabeth. Chiron preferred to stay out of the mess, and the Gods had once again ceased all contact with the demigods.

I headed to the beach to meet Annabeth.

However, when I reached there I saw Chiron and Annabeth. I had a bad feeling about this.

"Chiron. Is something wrong? "

"Perseus" I flinched when he used my full name, but he continued "The alliance with the Romans is being threatened because of a few misunderstandings. But they are no more tolerant of these misunderstandings. The Romans believe that you are indeed the culprit and should be punished. While we could not stop that from happening, we convinced them that you have done enough for Olympus to not be executed like a murderer. We came to the conclusion of your banishment from camps. Severe action will be taken if you enter either of the camps again. I'm sorry, but this is all I could do for you, child. You must leave camp by tomorrow. "

These words were like a sword run through my heart. I was gob-smacked in the face. "Chiron... you want me to... leave... forever?"

"No. However, it's for the best. Even Annabeth agrees" and with that, he walked away, but I could see him dabbing a few tears at his eyes.

"Wise girl... You as well want me to... leave?"

"It's for the best Percy. We cannot have another war. Romans have become our friends. I'm sorry"

"Come with me Annabeth, we can have a life together. We'll move to Alaska, marry, have kids, grow up together like we always planned to"

"What?! Come with you? And leave camp? How can I Percy? I'm the official architect of Olympus! You are so selfish. Just because you have to leave, you want me to come with you! I don't believe this!"

"What! selfish!? What are you even saying Annabeth! I willingly jumped into Tartarus for you! I saved your life so many times putting my own in danger! Where was my selfishness then, huh? I'm disgusted you think of me like this after all we've been through, Annabeth Chase. I'm done here. With you, with this wretched camp, with being a demigod, everything. Goodbye, and I hope we never cross paths again. " and with that I left...with my heart in a million pieces and brain still unable to comprehend what passed, vowing never to return to this hellhole I considered my home, where after all I did for them I was kicked out, tossed out like used tissue.

(A/N: Please review, constructive criticism is much appreciated.)


	3. 2 - The One With The Offer

PERCY'S POV:

Gwen

I just hate that name. Why? Because she's the reason I am wondering in this forest in the middle of nowhere, away from the one place I used to call home. Camp Half-Blood. My home since I was 12, my home where I found my Wise girl, my home where I found a father, my home where I...well you get the idea. That place was everything to me and now I am worth nothing over there.

So I left.

Yes you can call me a coward, but then I would suggest you find out who lead an army of 40 campers against thousands of monsters and Kronos, or who led new Rome to victory against Poryphyrion, or who in The Prophecy of the Seven, or who went on an involuntary unplanned trip to Tartarus, the literal hell, for the sake of a backstabbing girlfriend, or who...well I hate boasting but yeah these are my adventures, my life. And yet I am thrown away like a used Soda Can as if I am yesterday's trash. So I left, It's not like anyone's gonna miss me if anything I'm pretty sure they are partying and screaming 'good riddance'.

You must be wondering how I could just leave that place that was so close to me. How could I run away from my other friends, friends like Thalia and Grover who did no wrong to me? Truth is, I don't know what to feel anymore. I'm shattered. I remember Athena's words "There's a reason it's called a fatal flaw demigod." And I had played it down. I told her I was proud of my deeds. I still am, don't get me wrong. But when you think you did everything right then one fine day a tornado comes smashing your life away, you tend to wonder what different you could have done to not deserve this. I can never forget them. I can never stay mad at them. I know that I will soon forgive all of them, even Annabeth and Chiron. Because that's who I am. But I can't get back there. I did everything I ever did for them. Now they ask me to do one more thing. To leave. So that there can be peace between camps. Peace between brothers and sisters, friends and rivals. How can I say no to that? That's what family is all about. They may have kicked me out, but they'll always be my family. And I'm never going back to them so that they can be happy.

I was just walking teary-eyed with these depressing thoughts when I felt a very powerful presence in front of me, so powerful it was almost like the whole Olympian Council present. But no, This was just one man, and with the amount of power, he radiated I could tell he could toss Zeus like a football and not break a sweat. Great. Another primordial deity. Hopefully not another war though, 'cause as far as the camp is concerned I am done fighting for them. I may eventually forgive them, but that'll take some time. And until then, I'm still mad at them. Not mad actually... More like disappointed. As if Gaea wasn't enough. But the aura around this being wasn't evil, it felt somehow very calm and peaceful, comforting even. I noticed that the tree nymphs of the forest were bowing down to him, and Grover had told me once that the wild bow to none except Lord Pan and the almighty creator of all Lord Chaos. And it was then that I understood who he was.

"HELLO PERSEUS ACHILLES JACKSON" The being bellowed, and so strong and powerful was his voice that the trees began to tremble and shake, and I had the urge to run behind a boulder and hide. "Lord Chaos" I respectfully said and bowed down to him.

"Yes Perseus Jackson, I am Chaos, creator of everything and ruler of all galaxies. Rise child, I have come here especially to meet you. Bowing is just a formality and I hate formalities. I can sense the respect you have for me and that is enough for me."

"An honour to be in your presence Milord, but I don't understand, why would you come here to meet me? Do you also want to say how worthless I am like my friends said? Then don't bother, I already realize that"

"No young hero, I have not come here to add to your misery, in fact, I am very sorry to see a hero of your grade in such a miserable condition. I have come here to give you a new opportunity, a new life, something a hero of your calibre surely deserves. I have an offer for you. A job opportunity, you could say. I promise you will love it, it includes partial immortality like the hunters of Artemis and an army of powerful soldiers that helps different planets in need of war assistance. I am bound by laws to not divulge the details but should you accept this responsibility all your questions will be answered, I promise. You will be coming to my planet and staying there forever. It is a full-time job with a constant risk to life, but I know death has never been your fear".

I thought about it for a while. My home had turned it's back on me. But I couldn't just leave them. This way I would live longer and ensure that they were all fine if I was allowed to. I could do some good to the universe. Here, with no place to go, I'd just end up outside my mom's apartment, broken and depressed. And turn her life miserable. She is a very good woman and doesn't deserve that. I'm sure Annabeth and the rest will be there for her. Sally had always been close to Annabeth and Thalia. With these thoughts racing through my mind, I made my decision.

"It would be my honour Lord Chaos, as it is I have nothing left," I said. And thus began my new life.

 **(A/N: Please review, constructive criticism is much appreciated.)**


	4. 3 - The One With A New Dawn

PERCY'S POV:

Heavenly.

That's what the place looked like. Chaos's realm. Truly it looked like the Creator's planet. The sheer vastness and beauty of the outskirts made me want to jump within the inner boundaries to experience what was surely paradise. This planet is situated in a different galaxy, called Morfortisez. It is called Celestio, and the citizens here are said to be the purest by nature. This is because the citizens residing in this planet need to have achieved the isles of the best thrice in order to be born here, and you can achieve the isles of best one time only after achieving Elysium three times. So every single citizen here has had at least 9 lives with pure hearts and selfless deeds.

There is an outer wall made of Temporal gold, a pale silvery yellow metal that can be found nowhere else. It can only be created by Lord Chaos and is said to be indestructible. It is so strong not even Lord Chaos can destroy it post its creation. Weapons made of Temporal gold are very rare and given to only the higher officials of the army. The main city is beautifully studded with Zircon, a diamond-like metal found only in Celestio. The security here is pretty strict and a multilayer security system ensures no trespassers. We had to go through multiple security checks and scanners, even with Lord Chaos himself accompanying me. Finally, we entered the army HQ where a man who introduced himself as Broquean - Lord Chaos's PA ushered us to a throne room. And that's precisely the time I was sure this was a dream, but no, this had to be real 'cause I was sure my dream could never conjure up something so breathtakingly beautiful.

The whole room was so ginormous, I was sure the whole planet could be fit in here comfortably. There were so many thrones here in a circle and each one had a different inscription on it written in ancient Greek. Three thrones stood out from the others, a huge one at the place where the head of the table sits and other two on its either side. These were the grandest of all. However, I observed that the one on the left side had no inscriptions on it. "That's your's Perseus, the one with no inscriptions. There are 37 thrones in all, 34 for the in charges of each galaxy and the two on either side of the central one for the commander and lieutenant of the army. The central one belongs to me, of course. This army is under the supervision of the entire primordial council that runs under my leadership. The members of this council are Aether, Hemera, Erebus, Nyx, Chronos and Ouranos. Gaea was a member as well but after some differences of opinion regarding earth she had to be relieved of that position. Have a seat while the other galaxy in charges, or GIs as we call them for short report"

"Thank you, sir. After you" I said politely pointing to his throne. He smiled at that gesture "Every moment I spend with you I like my decision to recruit you more and more, Perseus" I flinched.

"It's just Percy if you don't mind sir, and I am honoured you feel that way." I smiled in return, taking my seat after he did. Eventually, all the leaders took their seat after bowing to Lord Chaos. Surprisingly they bowed to me as well, even though I wasn't even formally introduced to them yet. Sensing my confusion at this gesture, Lord Chaos said: "They may not know anything about you but when in my presence you sit on the throne meant for their superior, they assume you are worthy of the position and already as good as selected for the post." I nodded.

"Oh" was all I could say to that. And then another person entered, wearing a regal black cloak. This guy radiated power so high I automatically stood up, but I wasn't the only one. Everyone in the room excluding Lord Chaos stood up and bowed down to him. Presuming him to be the commander, I followed suit and bowed as well. "Commander Omega", they all chorused. Everyone took their seats once the commander sat, and so did I. "Welcome to the meeting GIs, Commander Omega."

"Thank you, my lord, and I presume this meeting is for obviously apparent reasons? You have brought the army their Lieutenant and me my new first in command?"

"You presume correctly Omega. I have judged Perseus Jackson, or Percy as he prefers to be called as, very fitting for the vacant position of our army. Here's his file, see for yourself and let me know your opinion" He said, snapping his fingers, and a file appeared on Omega's laps. Omega glanced quickly through the file and when he looked up, he nodded approvingly and said,

"Your judgement is absolutely perfect, my lord. According to this file, he is worthy enough. So should we start the proceedings?"

"Yes. Let's begin." And with that Omega and Lord Chaos began an incantation in ancient Greek. With the words from the incantation taking effect my throne began to glow. When they were done, the whole room erupted in applause. Another thing I noticed was everyone staring at my throne, the GIs in awe and Omega and Lord Chaos with expressions that said they were expecting this. I looked at my throne and saw that now even my throne had inscriptions in ancient Greek, which translated to words "Loyal", "Brave", "Kind", "Noble", "Selfless" and many other adjectives that completely occupied the throne. The throne was a beautiful sea green, the colour of my eyes, with a trident and a Pegasus beautifully engraved on it. "Gorgeous" I breathed. "Now if Percy is done admiring his throne, I officially welcome him as the new partially immortal lieutenant in our ranks and declare this meeting over. Thank you." He said in an ordering voice, but he was smiling at me. I returned the smile. Everyone was congratulating me and walking out, but one particular person stayed back. "Hello sir, my name is Elmont, and I am the GI of Milky Way. I have heard a lot about your nature and skills sir, and I must say its quite an honour to be in your presence".

"Hello Elmont, glad you think that way. But honestly, whatever I did I did without having a choice, and I did it for my loved ones. It's no big feat." I smiled at him "Elmont, there are many things I still don't know. Do you mind giving me a small info of everything in this universe? Just the basics, and only if you can afford the time of course."

"It would be my honour, sir", he said, looking visibly delighted at the prospect of sharing time with his senior. "I will also escort you to your quarters later if you have no objection, sir".

"Sure Elmont, as soon as my questions are answered, I would like nothing more than to rest for a while."

And so Elmont gave me a tour, during which we became friends.

By now from what I have learnt from Elmont, the universe consists of 34 galaxies. On an average, each galaxy has 12-14 planets. However, the milky way galaxy that has earth is the only galaxy with planets fewer than 3 with life. Only Mars and Earth have life, while most other planets of all galaxies have beings residing there, and earth is the only planet that does not know for sure about the existence of Lord Chaos. He's just a myth there. Only the high rulers of earth know.

What are high rulers? Every planet has 5-20 beings much higher in power than the citizens depending on the population. These are the beings that rule over the respective planets, ensuring everything runs smoothly. So the Olympians are high rulers of the earth. Eventually, he told me many things and when finally it was night time, I had most of my questions answered and proceeded to rest for the first time since Lord Chaos found me. It was an eventful day, and if things here are how Elmont described, life is going to be awesome here. Of course, there would be a constant fear of loss of life and a hell lot of responsibilities, but all in all, it would be worth it. And so I slept into a dreamless slumber for the first time in my life, and excited at the prospect of waking up with something positive to look forward to for the first time since Gwen and her revenge plots ruined my life.

 **(A/ N: Please review, constructive criticism is much appreciated.)**


	5. 4 - The One With The Time Lapse

On Celestio, 75 years later:

"PERCY JACKSON! YOU WILL DIE TODAY!"

"I don't think so; you've tried it a million times and failed miserably. You can try once more if it makes you feel better though, I don't really mind." I said, laughing delightfully.

Now you must be wondering what's wrong with me and why the Hades am I laughing if some crazy maniac wants to kill me. But no, this isn't some crazy maniac; it's just my friend Skylar and myself training in the Celestio Training Arena. I met Skylar two days after I came here, and since then we've hit a chord and become really close friends. We usually train together, not because we are friends but because whenever we do we get the best out of each other. We are the best here, better even than the commander. Me, because since I've come here all I ever did was training and missions; and her, because, well, I may have forgotten to mention earlier - Skylar is not actually just some random girl, she is Princess Skylar Void, daughter of Lord Chaos, member of the Primordial Council since the past 32 years. Yeah. So you can understand why she must be so pissed off at being defeated by a mere lieutenant. Though rank has never been an issue between us, I know somewhere in her mind she keeps on wondering how to outsmart me with a sword, even though all her plans prove disastrous.

"One day Perce, One day I will defeat you, and that day I will finally sleep peacefully."

"All the best, your majesty" I teased her. She hates formalities, just like her dad.

"Don't push me, Jackson, I'm sure you don't want to taste hobnoric skin in your tea tomorrow morning" She smirked.

I shivered at that. Hobnors are creatures of the Dertuil galaxy and, consumption of their skin can make you go insane for hours at a stretch.

"That's it for today, we'll continue tomorrow," I said and hurriedly walked out of there, but not before I heard the peeling laughter of Skylar. I couldn't help but smile at that, I knew she would never do something like that to me. It is actually the tone of her threats that would scare the crap out of me. Apart from Lord Chaos, Sky is the only one who knows about my past. And she understands me better than anyone here. Elmont obviously knows, but that's because Earth is his domain and it's his job to find out what's happening there. Skylar is a beautiful yet strong 5'7" brunette girl with a cheery smile and happy face, but don't let that fool you. Once she picks up her sword, she is a sinister machete-wielding serial killer hardwired with a strong will to win. Piss her off and you won't see the next day's sunlight. But to those who are close to her, she is the best, most understanding and trustworthy friend you could ask for.

I left the training arena to go to my HQ. It was my job to monitor the cameras in Army Province twice a day to ensure that security was intact and nobody was snoring off or had any problems in carrying out the assigned tasks. Everything related to the citizens of Celestio was also my job since Commander Omega was busy with solo missions assigned to him by the Council. As a result, the citizens knew and recognized me better than Omega. I have done multiple reforms on the planet, including rules and infrastructure after I found out it caused them inconvenience.

"Sir, Lieutenant Jackson, this is Sargent Mordridge, over", my walkie-talkie buzzed.

"Go on Mordridge, I'm listening, over" Mordridge is a GI of galaxy 21 and also my second in command. You see, based on experience and achievements every GI is given a rank, and Morridge is Sargent.

"Lord Chaos has called for an urgent meeting with the Council; your presence is required there, over."

"Okay thanks, sarge, be there in 5, over and out." While I may have sounded all calm and business-like to Morridge, I was freaking out inside. It's not every day that you receive a summons to the Primordial Council after all! Well, there's a first for everything, I guess. I headed to the conference room where the Council meetings are always held. Upon entering, I was greeted by six pairs of eyes boring into me. I nervously bowed down to everyone. In case you're wondering, yes I did bow down to Skylar since here she's not a friend. She is a member of the Council and a person of rank and status far higher than mine.

"Good morning, my Lords and Ladies. You summoned me here. I hope I haven't done anything to displease or offend you?" I decided to be a bit more respectable and formal since it was my first time.

"Hello Perseus and you can relax, we are not angry with you. As a matter of fact, I don't think you have the ability to displease us " Lord Aether replied warmly.

"A compliment from you is a huge honour, Lord Aether. Thank you." I bowed once as a gesture of gratitude. Out of all the members, Lord Aether was considered the most difficult to please, and a compliment from him was indeed a huge motivation.

"I will have to agree with my husband on that matter, Perseus. That is actually the reason we have called you here". Lady Hemera said, smiling kindly at me.

"Percy, are you aware of the legend and prophecy of Hellfire?"Skylar asked me.

"I think so milady. The legend is that there is an element known as hellfire, which has the power to make immortals fade away. It is said that the wielder of hellfire is inferior in power to none except Lord Chaos. The prophecy goes that this person is destined to be the leader of the legendary Councils Army - The elite army of secret assassins run by this very council, whose members are handpicked by all of you. The prophecy, as far as the books go, also state that this person is directly deemed worthy to be the commander of Lord Chaos Army. But as to what are the tests or criteria to be The One of the prophecy; the books do not mention much, and rumours suggest a lot of things, so I cannot be sure of that."

"Its good we cured your dyslexia Perseus, 75 years have made you immensely fond of books. All these aren't rumours, Perseus, they are true myths. But something that your books will never be able to confirm, Perseus is what exactly needs to be done in order to make the prophecy yours." Lord Erebus stated.

"Its good to know what I believed was the truth, and I thank you for enlightening me, but forgive me since I do not understand what its got to do with me."

"It has got everything to do with you Perseus. We the Council judge you worthy of this test, and we wish for you to succeed and become the commander of our army if you accept, of course." Lord Chaos said a bit nervously.

"Sir, Lord Chaos is that even a question?! Of course, I will! The whole Council feels I am worthy and that in itself is a big morale booster." I said enthusiastically, to which he relaxed and gave me a huge smile.

"Percy. It's not that easy. You have to battle and secure a dangerous monster in order to pass this test." Skylar said worriedly.

Hmm...How ugly could it get? Skylar wasn't usually the worrying type... oh well...

"C'mon, Princess Skylar, you talk as if I have to secure the Cyprian Tallert or something." I joked, deciding to ease some of her concerns. But their disbelieving expressions made me go numb. Realization dawned, thankfully my poker face didn't betray how freaked out I was from the inside.

"Oh...it is the Cyprian Tallert that I will have to battle isn't it?" I gulped nervously, hoping they would say something like 'haha gotcha' or 'are you insane of course not' or 'that would be too cruel'. But none of it happened. In fact, Lord Chaos' next words sent a chill down my spine.

"You not only have to secure the Tallert Perseus; but you have to do it all alone, without any backup or fighting aid. You will be ported to Planet Cyprio, the creature's home planet, and our Intel will provide you with its last known location. From there, you either return successfully, or you get a chance to say hi to your dead friends and bye to the living ones...forever."

I steeled my nerves and, gathering all my confidence and bravery...or what was left of it any way I replied, "I accept. I may or may not live, but I'll make sure if I do I do so contentedly. Rejecting a challenge will make me doubt myself, and I cannot afford that."

"We expected no less from you, young hero. Prepare for exactly a month, no more and no less. You are hereby relieved of your duties as my Lieutenant. You can however still avail the benefits of that post. My daughter may help in training you if she so desires, but no one else is to know about the test or anything discussed in this room, as it is a secret we will reveal only in due time. Now Perseus, the Council has other matters not relevant to you that need to be discussed, so off you go...the Council will see you in one month." Lord chaos said, dismissing me.

"Thank you, all of you," I said and formally bowed down to everyone once again before exiting the room and thinking about what might happen during my test.

A Tallert, for those of you mortals out there who don't know, is a huge dragon-like being with reptile-like skin made of an impenetrable material of some kind unknown to Lord Chaos himself. The Cyprian tallert though is an altogether different story. It is the worst, ugliest, most dangerous Tallert in the entire universe. It has never ever been defeated and is known to be so vicious and deadly that even the Gods fear its wrath. It is particularly known to deliver gruesome deaths to its victims. So how am I going to defeat it, you ask? Oh, I have no idea.

1 MONTH LATER, ON CYPRIO :

The Council had given me the last seen location of the creature which was a mountain-like terrain with uneven rocky ground. I had been searching for the past four hours now and was just about to give up, thinking that the intel was outdated. Just when I was having these thoughts, I was caught off guard by a vicious "Grr"

I turned in time and uncapped riptide; just in time to block a strong strike aimed at my chest. The force was enough to send me stumbling a few steps back, though. I steadied myself to look at the creature and saw a .wh..what...What the hell! I was staring in the eyes of the same creature that was described to me, except it was so short it looked more like a giant garden lizard than a deadly dragon. "Wow, I must say, after all I've heard about you, I'm pretty disappointed, boy"

Perhaps it didn't like the comment, or perhaps I suddenly smelled like tasty seafood to him because he suddenly pounced on me with stunning speed and grace. I countered it, one blow after another, and this creature was indeed pretty ruthless and dangerous. Sometimes one of us would get the upper hand on the other but would soon lose it, since we were evenly matched. Something about this creature made me hesitate in delivering the death blow. Despite my sanity, despite my mission, I started talking to the creature, soothing words like 'calm down', 'relax', 'we don't have to fight', 'I don't want to hurt you' and so on. I wasn't just blabbering uselessly though. It was slowing down its pace and gradually soothed down so much that it actually allowed me to pet it! Whoa! This was not something I could have ever imagined. If I ever told anyone I petted the Cyprian Tallert, I would either be branded insane or, well...very insane. I got so lost in my thoughts that I didn't realize when the sword slipped out of my hand, when the Tallert sprang to its feet, and when it started glowing golden. After the blinding glow disappeared, I saw what was the most beautiful yet most frightening site of my entire existence... and that is saying a lot. The creature was huge, like seriously humongous at around 20 feet height and reptilian scales with a tail of at least 7 feet. It raised its head high and breathed out fire. Great. Just what I needed. A 20 foot tall gigantic fire-breathing reptile with scaly skin and huge talon-like claws, and oh, yeah, add impenetrable skin to that list. I was so engrossed in the magnificence of this creature that I forgot we meant to kill each other. I could not brace myself for what came next since I hadn't even anticipated such a move...

 **(A/ N: Constructive criticism is welcome. So please review.)**


	6. 5 - The One With The New Companion

_Recap:_

 _The creature was huge, like seriously humongous at around 20 feet height and reptilian scales with a tail of at least 7 feet. It raised its head high and breathed out Fire. Great. Just what I needed. A 20-foot tall gigantic fire-breathing reptile with scaly skin and huge talon-like claws, and oh yeah add impenetrable skin to that list. I was so engrossed in the magnificence of this creature that I forgot we meant to kill each other. I could not brace myself for what came next since I hadn't even anticipated such a move..._

* * *

Ch. 5

* * *

When the creature raised its head I expected it to strike me down in one blow, but what it did, left my mouth agape. It bowed down to me, and gently nudged me with its head, and also licked my hands. I could not comprehend what was happening to me. Here I was, with a mission to kill the most dangerous monster in the universe, and that creature, known particularly for merciless slaughterings and gruesome deaths was licking my hands! Stunned, I jumped a step back. "Holy Chaos. How...you just...transformed...you-"

"Fear not Perseus Jackson. I am not going to attack you. Just like you said, we do not need to fight."

"You can talk! And fear not?! You just turned into a 20-foot enormous dragon and I should not be worried?" I asked incredulously. I seriously didn't understand what the Hades was going on.

"Why? You were the one who said that to me not even five minutes ago and now you don't believe yourself?"

"Yeah, but five minutes ago you were a cute little baby Tallert, not an enormous beast!" I exclaimed.

"That is because you lifted my curse and freed my soul. You see, millennia ago, when there was only one planet and one Primordial- Chaos' and End's father Void, I was created during that time by Void to be his constant ride and companion. We were very close friends, but soon after Chaos and End were created, and void started considering them what he called children. I was jealous of those creations and one day out of frustration attacked End. He was obviously powerful enough to defend himself. When Void found out about that, he was so upset with me that he cursed me to become what you spoke to earlier. But realizing my emotions and his own mistake of sidelining me, he forgave me and quickly apologized.

The curse could not be taken back, but he said that there would soon be a pure-hearted noble child of a younger god that would make me feel wanted again, who would understand me and care for me forever, and then I would be revealed to him in my true form and become his companion forever. You are that child, Perseus. You made me feel wanted, gave me a purpose. I will forever be grateful to you for that. That is why I bowed down to you. Henceforth, you are my master and my only friend."

He finished his speech.

"Oh..." I took a few moments to let that sink in.

"I don't want to be your master. Friend sounds cool, but what do I call you?"

"Thank you, friendship sounds…uhh… _cool_ to me as well, and you can call me whatever you desire since we didn't have names when I was born...there were only 4 of us then, and Chaos and End were named only a few centuries later."

"Okay, I'll call you 'Filos', meaning friend or companion in Greek," I said.

"That would be an honour Perseus." He smiled at me, but I frowned.

"It's just Percy Filos."

"As you wish, Percy. Now I think we should leave and get back to Celestio. Come, ride on my back, and tell me about the world. I could only learn so much about this universe from reading the minds of my victims." He smiled sheepishly.

"It's alright Filos, I'll fill you in. Let's go." And so I climbed on my new friend's back, heading to the outskirts of Celestio, where the Council would meet me. At first, I didn't understand why outskirts, I could simply portal my way here, but now I understand.

A few hours later we reached the decided meeting spot, where I saw every Council member with big smiles on their faces.

"Finally, after millennia, we have found our Champion. Welcome back, Perseus. You have made us proud today." Lord Chaos praised me but also confusing me.

"Champion..? I thought I was to be a commander of some army?"

"Yes Percy, but for that you need power, and you can't just get it from a prophecy. You will officially be made the Council's Champion, the commander of the Council's army of elite assassins, and also commander of dad's army After that you will automatically have the power to wield hellfire, but for that kind of power you will receive our blessings first so you are strong enough to be in control of your power." Skylar said.

"Oh...so what do I have to do for that? Is there, like a procedure or something I need to follow?" I asked.

"Just be at my palace where the ceremony takes place tomorrow morning at 8, that's it. Your new companion should be able to lead you there." Lord Aether said.

"Okay sir I'll be there, thank you," I replied. I formally bowed down to everyone and everyone flashed back to their palaces after saying goodbye to each other. Only Skylar stayed back. I bid farewell to Filos who said he wanted to roam around and have a look at the modern day world.

"Hello Princess, how are you this morning?" I teased. But much to my dismay, she smirked.

"I'm fine Lord Perseus, thank you for asking". She said.

"Huh? Lord? I say, princess, because you are one, what's such a title got to do with me? Technically, your dad relieved me of my duties so I'm not even a lieutenant."

"Percy, right now I was only joking, but after tomorrow you will practically be the second most powerful being in the universe! It's time you get used to it. I know you don't like attention, but look at me, neither do I. Still, in front of people I act according to the position. We have to do this because we know we will be taken for granted if we don't act. Welcome to the acting party, Perce."

"Teach me. I'll try". I said dejectedly. I knew she was right.

"Sure, c'mon let's go I'll give you a few pointers." And so we walked and discussed everything, and while she was excited at my promotion ceremony, I was pretty nervous.

 **(A/ N: PLEASE REVIEW, CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS APPRECIATED.)**


	7. 6 - One Where We Know the Main Villain

Ch. 6

* * *

ON EARTH, A FEW DAYS AFTER PERCY LEFT :

THIRD PERSON'S POINT OF VIEW:

Gwen was very happy. Why? Because she had finally succeeded in her task. The great saviour of Olympus - Percy Jackson, had run away from camp with his tail between his legs, just like her master had predicted. Personal loyalty, his fatal flaw, indeed had proven the end of him.

The campers were all fools to believe that she'd be a cousin of that foolish augur, Octavian. Just that thought of being related to that scrawny loser made her shudder. She had completed the job her master had ordered, and she knew she would be rewarded once he received the news. That is where she was headed, after making up a silly excuse to get out, which they bought pretty easily. "Huh, not only did they kick out their last line of defence - Percy, they are unknowingly feeding the enemy every bit of information they have," She thought. She eventually reached the hideout her master was in - or HQ as she liked to call it. Upon seeing her master she bowed down to him.

"Master, our plan was a success."

"Success? Is Perseus Jackson dead so fast? That is excellent news. I must admit I never thought you to be this fast. So, how did you kill him? Painfully I hope? " Her master evilly smirked.

"Oh... but we don't need to kill him, he himself ran away, the betrayals became too much for him" She smirked, but the smirk washed off when she saw her master's reaction.

"What! Meaning he's still alive and you say you have completed your mission? How dare you even show your face to me! Get out of my sight, go and hunt him down, kill him, and if you can't then get ready to face my wrath!" he bellowed angrily.

"Y.. yes ma.. mas... mast-"

"Stop stuttering and get lost you, lousy creature, go before I kill you... and bring me Percy Jackson... dead!"

So scared was the girl that she didn't even bother saying goodbye, she just ran out of there, cursing herself for not killing him. Now, where would she find him?

As soon as the girl had left, her master went to an inner room which was out of bounds for everyone else. He created a shadow message, and a Primordial being appeared in front of him.

"Master"

"What news have you got for me, Kronos?"

"My Lord, that Gwen girl claims Perseus Jackson has run away from camp and vowed never to return. But she didn't kill him."

"Didn't? KRONOS! WERE MY ORDERS NOT CLEAR ENOUGH! YOU CLAIM HE RAN AWAY, SHE CLAIMS HE ISN'T DEAD, MEANING HE IS STILL AROUND! YOU FAILED ME! "

Kronos was sweating profusely, this was not a being he'd want to piss.

"Master, you have waited millennia for your revenge, surely you could wait a decade or two more? By that time even if the hero miraculously survives he'll be too aged to be a threat to us. "

"Fool. his presence itself gives the creatures of your puny army goosebumps. No, it won't do... but you are right, I indeed waited a long time, and to be undoubtedly sure Perseus is no longer around I postpone this war. We will attack the demigods, but not now. Call that servant of yours... what's her name .. Gwen.. yeah... call her back... and prepare to implant a new spy in their camps. We will wait a few more centuries, till then no one should attack those camps, let them be off guard and relaxed. "

"As you say my Lord " Kronos bowed down, and the shadow message disappeared.

"It's a good thing we have to wait a few centuries, my mother will wake up from the slumber that wretched Aphrodite's daughter had put her in and join us to get revenge." Kronos thought evilly.

 **(A/ N: PLEASE REVIEW, CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS APPRECIATED)**


	8. 7 - The One With The Gifts

Ch. 7

* * *

At Camp Half-Blood, with both Greeks and Romans present, Gwen missing, and all the Gods gathered at the ping pong table for an emergency meeting with the cabin leaders and the whole Roman Senate, waiting for Hades who was also invited:

"Lord Zeus, why have you called us here for this urgent meeting today? Unless I'm mistaken this is the first time ever the meeting is being held here and not on Olympus. You generally summon whoever you wish to have a word with." Chiron said respectfully.

"I'm a King, Chiron, I'll do whatever I wish to." Zeus shut him up rudely. That shocked every mortal in the room. No one was ever rude to Chiron, not even the Gods. Zeus looked seriously pissed off, and so did Poseidon.

"I'm sorry, I should know my place, my Lord. Is everything alright? You look upset." Chiron said.

"That's because I am upset, centaur, and yes, you should know your place, but apparently you don't. None of you." Poseidon stated angrily. Everyone looked taken aback by the sudden outburst and anger of two of the big three.

Suddenly there was a flash of bright light and Hades appeared, but he was not looking happy. Everyone nervously gulped. The big three looked really angry and when they observed the others, each Olympian had different expressions ranging from glum (Artemis) to nervous (Dionysus and Ares) to concerned (Hera), but all the remaining ones were angry. Of all of them, Apollo and Hestia being angry was quite a shock to everyone since they weren't the angry type. Meanwhile, Hades had settled on his throne.

"Thank you for joining us brother, but formalities aside. Did you find his soul anywhere?" Zeus asked, extremely anxious.

"No. I checked the entire Elysium, Isles of the Blessed, fields of Asphodel and punishment as well just in case, but in vain. He was never judged, his soul never came to the underworld."

"Hermes, any news of him? Zeus asked Hermes.

"No my Lord, I couldn't find him anywhere," Hermes replied sadly.

The mortals present in the room were growing more and more impatient by the minute. They were very curious to know who this person was that the Olympian Council wanted to find so desperately.

"Has anyone else seen or heard of him since he...left?" Zeus asked everyone in the room.

Reyna mustered up the courage to ask him the million dollar question that was in every mortal's mind.

"Who are you talking about Lord Zeus? Maybe we can help you find him..?"

"Reyna. I wish you could, but what happened is your own doing, all of you." Now they were confused as hell. "I don't understand, sir. What did we do to get you all so angry?"

"You kicked my son out, even after he saved our and your lives countless times. You mistreated him after believing an enemy agent, and you dare question us with what wrong you did?!" Poseidon growled, scaring the crap out of Reyna.

"Wait...Lord Poseidon, you don't have any child, except of course...oh...you mean...Percy...? Jason asked, realization dawning on his face.

"Yes Jason Grace. We are talking about him." Hestia said. "One of the few loyal heroes out there, one who got me and my brother Hades a throne, and you brand him a murderer and kick him out? Who gave you the right to judge some death caused during a war as murderer, Romans? And how could you betray the person who lead you all to battle against a being like Kronos, Greeks? He called this camp home and you all family!" She added.

And one by one all the Gods began scolding the demigods and Chiron for their foolishness. The demigods were all surprised at the revelation that Gwen was not speaking the truth. They all kept on arguing, but finally, the Gods had had enough. When Annabeth argued that it was for the best and that Gwen was actually good, Apollo angrily blasted one of the empty chairs and growled, "Are you really challenging me in my own domain, girl? I am the God of truth! And that Gwen girl was speaking nothing but lies!"

"This was no undoing of mine, daughter of Athena, you broke up with him of your own accord. You kicked out a fine young man from your life and insulted love."

"Don't call her that Aphrodite, I am ashamed to call her my daughter. I am the Goddess of Justice as well with other things, and you have done nothing but injustice to Perseus. All of you." Athena scolded.

After every God was done shouting at the demigods and the demigods had finally realized their mistake, they hung their heads in shame and regret. The guilt would torture them for all eternity, it seemed. And it actually would, because of the announcement soon made by Zeus.

"What's done cannot be undone. We may forgive you eventually since you are our own children, but it will take some time. We are sorry as well that we weren't present when your common sense had deserted you. But the Council has decided, taking the death toll of the past two wars into consideration, that there is a need for experienced fighters for the future. Also, we will honour Percy's memory-"

"Memories of the dead are honoured, and my son is not dead." Poseidon snapped, cutting Zeus off.

"I'm sorry brother. So as I was saying, we will honour Percy's wish of equality to all Gods and display a list of all minor gods and goddesses outside camp, their children will be forever welcomed and treated equally at both camps. But since there aren't many children of minor gods only two cabins will be built for them. The number of cabins will increase as the number of their children showing up at camp increase. And lastly but most importantly, we the Council have come to the decision of making the heroes of the first two wars and all the cabin leaders part immortal just like Artemis' hunters. So you may die if you are killed in a fight or battle, but otherwise you will neither age nor get sick. This is to ensure we have capable fighters for future as the mortal fate also depends on the wars we fight. "

It took a while for the demigods to let that sink in, but needless to say, they were glad and agreed to the offer immediately. The list of immortal demigods as announced by Zeus was :

Annabeth Chase, Jason Grace (Even his sister Thalia had been a hero, but she was already part immortal, being a huntress), Hazel Levesque, Frank Zhang, Nico di Angelo, Reyna Avil Ramirez-Arellano, Piper McClean, Leo Valdez (His girlfriend Calypso was welcomed to stay at camp by the Gods, and she got to keep her partial immortality intact), Katie Gardner, Travis and Connor Stoll, Clarisse La Rue, Grover Underwood and all other cabin leaders.

The day was celebrated with great pomp, joy and reverence, the big downside being the absence of Percy. As a result the ones closest to Percy, being the new immortals themselves, couldn't really enjoy the day.

 **(A/N : PLEASE REVIEW, CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS APPRECIATED)**


	9. 8 - The One With The Mission

Ch. 8

* * *

 **Lord Aether's Palace, Percy's coronation as commander, after the incantation:**

 **PERCY'S POV:**

"Perseus Achilles Jackson, son of Poseidon, you are now proclaimed the Commander of The Council's Army, Right hand to the Council. If you serve the Council without dying for 400 years straight, then you will also become eligible for a position in the Primordial Council, as already your power is above almost every Council member and 400 years will give you the knowledge you require for that post." Lord Chaos announced.

Thereafter it was followed by some heavy partying and many congratulations. When the party was over and it was time to leave, Lord Chaos approached me, "Perseus. Congratulations."

"Thank you so much, sir." I bowed in gratitude.

"Perseus, you have fulfilled the prophecy, according to that there are two more things left in store for you. Controlling hellfire, for which you'll be training with your army's first in command. The second one is that you be made the commander of my Army. Currently, Omega is in that position, and he says he will retire in about two decades. I know you respect him so I hope you will not force him into early retirement, or worse; a degraded position."

"Of course not sir. I have absolutely no issues even if he never retires, I trust him and would willingly follow him anywhere."

"That's good to hear. Okay, I'll leave you to your celebrations now, and some quality time with my daughter" he winked. He was gone before I could argue or ask what he meant, but the celebrations that lasted the entire day were enough to clear the comment from my head.

500 years since Percy first left earth, 425 years since his coronation as commander :

PERCY'S POV

Slash, stab, roll, duck, repeat. That is what I was doing. And in about a few minutes, I was done. I had destroyed 10 automatons created by Lord Chaos set at the highest difficulty in precisely 5 minutes and 12 seconds, becoming the fastest in the army to do so. The second fastest is Skylar with 8.5 minutes, but she doesn't count since she's not a part of the army. The army's record is of 11 minutes, by ex-commander Omega. Everyone watching the training, which was most of Celestio planet ( This was a planned event and on all screens across Celestio ) and the Primordial Council. Whose member I very recently became. I could here applaud ringing through the entire arena. Attention isn't something that bothers me anymore. Lord chaos makes me display every skill I master; from the six styles of swordsmanship to wielding hellfire, to breaking records that he thinks I'm capable of -which appears to be never-ending. So exhausting. Post the 'record-breaking ceremony', as citizens here have begun to call it, I went to my commander quarters to get some rest. Little did I know that this rest would be my last for a very long time.

I was woken up by my first in command, Elmont ( Mordridge retired a while ago and I promoted his next in command, also my home planet's GI ).

"Sir, commander Stormbringer, Lord Chaos requires your immediate presence. He says its a Council meeting."

"Uhh...meeting at this hour? You gotta be kidding me El."

"I wish I was, but he says its an emergency meeting and your presence is of utmost importance."

"Okay. Tell him I'll be there in a few."

"Sure sir."

I got ready as fast as I could and left for the conference room. When I entered everyone was there, which was quite the shock since most of them, especially Aether and Skylar were frequent latecomers.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen. And you have woken me up at 5 in the morning for..? "

Skylar rolled her eyes and said "For playing Pacman." but I knew Skylar enough to detect a hint of nervousness, even worry beneath that joking tone.

"Its a meeting to discuss the next mission of your army Percy." She added more seriously.

"Oh... okay. So... when and where? and how many of my assassins do I need to take with me? "

" Uhh... okay... I'll tell you bluntly, might as well get over with it. You are required to go to earth, and before you say anything I'll tell you all the details. An old enemy is rising, and he has targeted earth since he got many allies from there. These allies are unfortunately your old foes Gaea and Kronos. Kronos had risen a long time ago and had been secretly building an army under his new master according to our intel reports. They had been waiting for Gaea to wake from her slumber. Now the demigods are so unprepared for this attack that it will be a walk in the park for evil to succeed."

"That's all okay, you know a mission is a mission for me, I'll just wear my mask and go fight and come back. But don't think I didn't understand you were trying to breeze over the 'Kronos' master' part. Tell me. Who is it this time? Other titans? Some minor Gods?"

"It's actually pretty worse this time, even for you. I have told you about my brother end. What do you remember? "

"That he was your brother, but he was evil. You believed in creation for evolution while he created to destroy. So much that he wanted to destroy everything except Celestio and rebuild, just so he could destroy again. You couldn't allow that, so there was a huge war, with primordials choosing sides. Aether, Ouranos, Erebus, Chronos and Hemera sided with you. Erebus' wife Nyx, Chronos' wife Anake, Ouranos' wife Gaea, and Tartarus supported End. You won and cast them into the void, your father created a black prison from where no one can return. But Gaea wasn't sentenced to prison since she had sacrificed herself in the end so the battle could be won. It took her above a century to reform, and she was expelled from this Council, but never imprisoned."

"That... was much more detailed than I would have wanted, but yes, that's precisely what happened. And now the problem, Perseus, is that this being who claims to be Kronos' master is... End... "

There was a minute's silence while I let that sink in and the others were observing me. Then I said "This is gonna be a hell of a bloody fight. I'll need the whole Council's Army and a significant part of your army. The earth's army along with the GI, and 2 more on a voluntary basis. The Council's Army will come late. Send me with your army to train the campers. You warn the campers and the Gods."

"You rest assured of that. I will."

"And tell them Commander Stormbringer of the Choas Army and assassin hellfire, leader of the Council's army is not to be treated like trash, and neither is his army," I said to Lord Chaos.

"Definitely. oh, and you will be staying at camp half-blood obviously, so be careful with your identity. Put on your hood and mask constantly. Nobody knows your real name here, nobody ever called you that since Omega except in the Council, so no chance of a slip up from our side."

"Thank you, Lord Chaos. Now I'll go and prepare. We will leave in 2 days. " I bowed to Lord Chaos and exited the room.

What's past is past. A mission is a mission. Earth's safety is my job, and I'll do it no matter what it takes. That's why I was so calm when I got that mission. Anyways I've long since forgiven them and moved on...personal loyalty is still my fatal flaw after all.

With positive thoughts and curiosity burning, a bit of nervousness and a lot of excitement to see my old home, I went to sleep, waiting for the next few days to pass quickly.

 **(A/ N: PLEASE REVIEW, CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS APPRECIATED.)**


	10. 9 - The One Where Stuff Begins to Happen

Ch. 9

* * *

 **PERCY'S POV**

"I have let the Gods know about your arrival and your... err... certain feeling about certain demigods. You leave in an hour, and just like you said my army's two GIs with their battalions will be accompanying you. The Council's Army will arrive later during the month whenever you call them, along with one more GI since you needed three." Lord Chaos told me.

"Thank you. Lord Chaos, sir. I know I don't have the right to request this, but I would like Skylar to accompany me if that's alright with you. She is a friendly face between hostiles and a supportive friend. I might need someone like her there to help me with-"

"-with your feelings. I understand. But Percy, Skylar is a member of the Council, I'm already sending you, so I need her here to help me out for now. But I promise she'll be there along with the Council's Army."

"Thank you very much, sir! Now with your permission, I'll leave for my mission."

"Good luck Percy, may the fates smile upon you"

I bowed formally to him and climbed aboard the ship that was to take me and the army to my ex-home. Now you'll ask why Lord Chaos didn't simply let us teleport there, but the army's strength is in thousands. It's very exhausting and time consuming for Lord Chaos to create such a huge portal. He has many other jobs, so we just climb aboard and travel galaxies. Another reason actually is our ship looks like one hell of a modern era killing machine. When you are going to land in an area of gods and powerful demigods as their aide you have to look a bit intimidating. It is made completely out of hellfire (yes, I made the parts, as practice, during basic training) and designed and engineered by the best of our blacksmiths. It has a huge hull and a massive main hall. There are various posters of different wars this ship has been through that decorate the walls. It is a huge war machine designed for heavy sieges and large-scale attacks.

You can imagine the size, it can travel in air, water, fire ( we activate the shield and the ship becomes fireproof) and has a capacity of 12000 members. There are more than 4000 rooms, and whether you will stay alone or with many is based on your rank. Commander and Sergeant get a room to themselves, the GI's share a room amongst two, while the low ranks like the cabin crew and new recruits who are on probation period have to stay up to a hundred in a room. Of course, the rooms are quite massive, so they don't complain.

Exactly 3 hours and 23 minutes later we had arrived in the earth's atmosphere. Looking out the window I saw the empire state building. Huh? I thought the Gods were informed?

"Sarge. Why the heck do I see Mt. Olympus out of the window instead of the camp?"

"Sir, we are to report to the Olympian Council where you are to attend their summer solstice meeting in order to be updated with the developments of the war. "

" Ohh.? Okay, I guess. I wasn't aware of that. So where will you all be if only I am to attend the meeting? "

"Waiting down for you, sir"

"I want you to come with me Elmont. And take Greg with us as well. You two are much higher in power and position than most of the Olympians on the Council anyway. "

"As you say, sir"

We left the ship airborne and got down using ropes. As we entered the building I verified all my soldiers, GI's and I were wearing their carbon plated face masks or not. They were an integral part of our uniform since they had the logo of Lord Chaos over it. I, of course, was wearing it for other obvious reasons. I approached the guard on duty, who was so engrossed in whatever book he was reading that he didn't observe an army of 2,825 soldiers cramped for space in his tiny lobby. It was night time... otherwise I can't even imagine what the mortals would have seen because of the mist.

Elmont banged his fist so hard on the guard's table that it broke into two.

"If you are done with your pleasure reading, handover the gate pass for the six hundredth floor Romero," Elmont said in a commanding heavy voice.

The guard's expression was irritation and confusion at the recognition of his name, then fear at the size of Elmont, and he almost fainted seeing the army's size.

"Wh... who are... are you..? H.. how do y. ..you k... know my n... name? " He managed to stutter out.

"Who am I? You should no your own boss Romero" He smirked

"B... boss? but... but that's impossible! Lord Zeus personally assigned me this position! "

"And what makes you think I'm not his senior?"

He was right. The GI's of the army are equal in strength and superior in power to the high rulers of their respective planets. Yes, Elmont is that powerful. He could simply order the crown on Zeus' head to reappear on Poseidon's, and Poseidon would be king then. And yes I'm still much higher in power and position than him.

" What! You are drunk! Lord Zeus is the King of Olympus! If I report this to him he'll have you executed for treason against the gods you madman!"

If I let these two continue soon there would be a pool of blood with the guard down, but at the same time, I decided that for such an egoistic jerk a punch wouldn't hurt that much. So I punched him... a bit harder maybe... because he collapsed with a bleeding nose.

I let him be, rummaged the drawer to get the pass and proceeded towards Mt. Olympus with my 2 GI's each on either side of me. The elevator still played crap music, but I couldn't care less about the music at this point. Just needed to control my nerves.

When I entered Olympus I observed it hadn't changed much. No, scratch that. It hadn't changed at all. The grand size of the building now didn't seem so grand to me though. I have travelled all over the universe and seen many more awesome things than this building. When the three of us entered the throne room the talking and whispering collapsed. Lord Zeus and the rest of the Olympians were seated in a U shape, like a roundtable conference. Lord Zeus was at the head's position with Hades and Poseidon on his either side. We were in a V formation, me at the centre and my 2 GIs on either side of me.

"Lord Zeus" Elmont stated formally.

"Lord Elmont. Welcome. I presume these warriors are from your army?" Zeus stated equally formally.

Lord? What exactly did Chaos tell then about us? I chuckled mentally.

"Lord Zeus, it's Sargent Elmont if you don't mind, as to your question, yes and no. "

"Yes and no? "

Elmont pointed towards my other GI companion and said: "This is Gregor, and he's a Galaxy In charge of the zulis galaxy."

Upon hearing this all the big three stood up and bowed down to him. "Lord Gregor," they said in unison. What? since when did the Olympians become so damn respectful? This is definitely some words from Chaos taking serious effect on this Council. I smirked at that thought, but the mask I wore covered my entire face so no one could see my expressions or anything on my face except my eyes.

After the bowing and exchange of respect were over, Elmont pointed to me and said "This is our Commander Stormbringer, but of course that is a code name. It isn't safe to reveal his real name...yet"

That was hardly my full title, but the rest would be announced only when the Council's army and Skylar arrived.

Cue exchange of bows and all those formalities. After they were done a brief discussion of the current knowledge regarding the war that each god and us three possessed was exchanged. Meanwhile, I was talking the time to observe the Gods, especially one certain sea God. The Gods hadn't changed at all. Dad. He was wearing more formal clothes but he looked just like the last time I had seen him. Sea-green eyes and a kind face, always motivating. It was an emotional site for me, but I held back my tears. I couldn't spoil my mission or endanger anyone here. I have a lot of enemies, both as Percy Jackson son of Poseidon and Commander Stormbringer right hand to the Creator. I don't know what I'll do when I see those old campers again. I don't know much, but Elmont had informed me the moment it happened - them becoming immortal, especially her...

Of course, my identity and everything associated with it was never revealed during the meeting, but I know that moment will be soon. Post the meeting we were supposed to simply teleport to camp half-blood, obviously the Gods helping the soldiers to travel while we reached there and set things up. The Greeks and the Romans all were to be present along with some immortal campers and Artemis' hunters. The Roman camp was left barely protected, so I decided to send Gregor along with a third of the army there. In case of a sudden attack, I could create a portal for a few hundred soldiers to provide aide there. The rest of the army, along with me and Elmont would stay at half-blood and train the campers. But then I insisted we will use our ship so all of us that is us three and the whole army can reach together. I told the Olympians they were free to choose their mode of transportation. They could come with us or simply teleport there.

"They are just a punny army! You are the boss punk! whyd'ya need to travel with the army for, eh? " Ares argued

I didn't like that tone.

"I am commander so long as I have an army, and I have an army so long as they are ready to die for me. When people are ready to die for you, Ares, you do not say they are just somebody. I treat my army like family. Remember I'm not an Olympian god who forgets their children during a fight and makes them sacrifice for me or thank me. And this is a full and final warning to you all, which I request be kindly passed on to everyone allying with us as well as your children - My army is like my family, Lord Chaos is like my father, the Primordial Council is my passion and it's members, my extended family. You will not have heard of anyone having insulted any of these. Nowadays it is because they are smart, in the beginning, because they didn't live to tell the tale." I said very sharply.

The Gods looked very scared by my serious and threatening tone. Ares was literally shaking with fright. Poseidon looked pretty nervous.

"I apologize on behalf of my nephew, he can be a little... er...-" Poseidon started, but I cut him off. Not because I was angry, but because hearing his voice was too much for me.

"- don't bother, Lord Poseidon. It's not my habit to punish without warnings. Now that I have given one though, you might wanna be more careful. Let's go."

"Thank you, Commander," Poseidon said.

I hurriedly walked out of the throne room, used the lift and quickly climbed aboard the ship. Gregor came with me, Elmont came a bit later.

"They wish to travel with us Commander," Elmont said.

"Okay. Call the guys and get the Olympians onboard."

"Alright."

I wouldn't have much time to rest, it was a short journey, so instead, I just sat in my room polishing my squad, eagerly waiting to see my old home, my old friends and my teacher. Just thinking about them made me smile, fond memories flooding my brain. However the complete flashback also made me remember my last days at camp, my abandonment, the reason I joined this army. But I don't regret anything, fighting for them, laughing with them, being with her...

I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I jumped a foot in the air when I heard a knock on the door.

"Sir, we have arrived. Time to get down." Gregor's voice rang in my ears.

"Be there in 2 Greg... "

I shook off those thoughts and concentrated on my mission. I was the last one to get down from the ship, and I saw all the campers - about 400 in all, Greeks and Romans were present outside the border, with the cabin leaders standing in front. I did not recognize the ones at the back, but the front lines, those faces, I could never forget. The immortal cabin counsellors. Apparently, the Gods had Iris messaged the camp about our arrival. Zeus had just finished introducing my GI's and was about to introduce me when I said

"I am Commander Stormbringer, the Commander of this army, peacekeeper of the universe, punisher of evil and a friend of the good. I have the utmost respect for every living soul, but if you are found to be with the wrong side of justice you'll be facing the sharp end of my blade, and I won't even give you time to blink before your head rolls to the ground, separated from your body." In one swift move, I removed my sword and held it pointing to the campers as a warning.

Most of them stared with fear and awe, the remaining ones - the immortal cabin counsellors - were looking wary. This is gonna be a lot more interesting than I thought.

 **(A/N: PLEASE REVIEW, CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS APPRECIATED.)**


	11. 10 - The One With The Showoff

Ch. 10

* * *

 **PERCY'S POV:**

The campers, nymphs and satyrs were all staring at the army and me in fear and awe. The immortal campers posed ready to draw weapons if needed, but you could read in their eyes their desperate hope that we be allies rather than enemies. Hmm. Apparently they do not trust the word of the Olympians. I decided to ease off their worries.

"Demigods and creatures of the wild, we are not your enemies. My Lord Chaos and the Primordial Council feel that you are incapable of defeating an enemy that has vowed to raze earth stone by stone, so they sent help. What you see right here is exactly that, and in due time, as war comes closer, a few more will arrive."

"Commander. It's very reassuring to have you here, to know that the Creator and the Primordial Council care about us. I am Chiron, the director of this camp, and I welcome you" He politely bowed. Chiron hadn't changed one single bit. Seeing him as well as everyone else was making me very nostalgic, my feelings were getting out of hand.

"No bowing please. No formalities required. We prefer respect to devotion, which everyone should get. Ours was a very long journey, so now if you don't mind we'll like to rest for a while. We'll meet during dinner time and campfire, and there I'll answer the questions I can sense brewing inside you."

"Of course Commander, but I am so sorry, there has been a misunderstanding between us and Lord Chaos. When we enquired for how many people we had to build a place to stay in, he said you just needed a small amount of space. So we cleaned a few metres of space and decided to build you a cabin the way you liked when we met face to face. We hadn't expected small amount to be in thousands." He said a bit nervously. Hmm... hoping we wouldn't feel offended and run away I presume. To their surprise, I smiled at them ( I had changed into a different mask in the ship so they could now see my face and eyes.)

"There was no misunderstanding Director Chiron, and if there was any, it was on your part in deciphering the true meaning behind his statement. "

"What other meaning can such a simple statement have?" Asked Zeus incredulously.

"Perhaps that spaces don't define numbers?" I said

Noting their confused expressions I added a bit smugly "We should proceed towards that space you have reserved for us. Allow me to demonstrate it live for you there".

I instructed the army to stay put outside the camp while I set up the tent. I followed the big three and Chiron, the Olympians and immortal counselors right behind me along with the whole camp trailing behind.

The place they showed me was perfect.

"You've chosen a spot of great strategic importance director, I'm impressed. The area is more than sufficient. Thank you."

"Actually the Athena cabin and especially the head counsellor, Annabeth Chase were pivotal in deciding this spot."

Of course she was.

"Oh yeah. I've heard a lot about miss Chase the famous daughter of Athena. She always thinks she's doing what's best for everyone doesn't she?" I said a bit pointedly. Pretty much everyone seemed equally shocked and upset by this statement. They must've remembered exactly what was in my mind - she kicked me out saying it was best for everyone.

"Anyways thank you daughter of Athena, you have indeed chosen an excellent spot, adjacent to Zeus' fist and at visible distance plus at height from camp entrance. "

It was true. From here I could keep watch and warn the camp in case of a sudden attack immediately. So if an enemy chose this path to attack, the element of surprise was certainly not a luxury they would get.

"Th... thank you Commander." Annabeth stuttered softly. She seemed pretty sensitive to the past. As if she ever cared.

"You're welcome. And now, ladies and gentlemen, I'll build our cabin here." With that, I called in the powers of creation of Lord Chaos from within me, a feat I'd learned when I became part of the Primordial Council. When I could feel the powers flowing within me, I visualised what kind and size of tent I wanted. Bang. It was ready. The size was your average tent , but unlike your average tent, this was more like tardis. Smaller on the outside, gigantic on the inside.

"It's ready see, wasn't that hard was it?"

"Uh... so... your army will be staying outside? You know we can create a place for them, it might take time and effort, but it'll be much more comfortable than being outside." Zeus said.

"Yes, the way you said you considered your army your family I'm sure you don't want to give them such a treatment. We'd be honoured to help you. " Poseidon continued.

"No need. I meant every word I said, but I think we established earlier that you are a bit slow at deciphering the actual meaning" I smirked.

"Sarge. Its ready. Bring the lads. " I said in my walkie-talkie.

"Right away sir" Elmont replied.

In about a minute it looked like people would die of suffocation. I had already instructed Zeus to magically increase the size of camp by five times, but that was only the training and dining arena, not the entrance or this part.

"Soldiers, our home is ready. Get in. You too Gregory and Elmont. I'll be inside in a few." I instructed. Then, one by one, I watched as every non-army member's eye widened from normal to the size of ping-pong balls. They had just witnessed around 3000 people going inside a tent whose size indicated its capacity to be around 2 or 3 people max. Well, If you put it that way I couldn't blame them. In fact to tell you the truth I had a similar reaction when Lord Chaos showed me this power the first time. But I had the upper hand here, I knew stuff they had no idea about. This advantage of mine I certainly wouldn't lose.

"Now if you'd kindly stop ogling at our home, we could talk?"

"Ohh.. yeah... sorry... its just that... never mind... - " Chiron started, but I cut him off.

"This is the power of Chaos director Chiron, it's simply limitless. You do understand that don't you?"

"Oh of course I do... its just that... I've lived my life with Olympians and not seen anything even remotely powerful. So forgive me if I'm a little taken aback. "

"The Olympians could very easily do this Director, but unfortunately they do not use their power citing petty excuses. And now I'm really tired , so I'll settle down. We'll be there for dinner, and later on during campfire we will hold a meeting regarding whatever you want."

With that , I turned around and went inside the mansion, not waiting for their reply. Now you must be wondering why I was upset with the Gods, but I'm not upset. I'm pissed at them. When I left this camp I wasn't but after a few years as a Council member I realized that the rules for gods to help their children were pretty flexible, unlike what they had told us. I let that go off my mind to get some peace and rest, tomorrow onwards the days would be pretty long.

The tent, or mansion as the army likes to call it, is not exactly a place to stay. Its a 13 dimensional small area, and when you enter this area you are teleported to a mansion like humongous building that automatically creates itself when I create the tent.

It has all the modern amenities - games, training arena , outdoor sports, all types and origins of food, televisions and all those modern PlayStation games. Elmont is a fan of those, and I can bet you 30 drachmas he'll be there right now. I went to my room, where I just sat thinking about today.

Poseidon hadn't changed much, but upon closer observation he looked a bit sad and old. Even Chiron didn't look like his old self. That sparkle from his eyes was gone now, and i wondered if it had anything to do with my disappearance. The most shocking, though, were the immortal campers. They were all there. Jason, Reyna, Leo Piper, Hazel , Frank, Nico , Calypso, Katie, the Stoll brothers... her... and a few more whom I recognized. There were few I didn't recognise, I guess they were the children of the minor Gods. I couldn't recognise them 'cause they weren't there during my time. But that isn't what was disturbing me. I observed that they all held a kind of desolate sadness in their eyes, like they were alive, but not living.

Almost every single person from my days who I knew resembled such expressions. What happened? I haven't heard of a new war or death of immortals on earth since I left, and I could see them much closer to their parents than before... so what's exactly bothering them? Hmm... will have to find out in today's meeting.

 **(A/ N: PLEASE REVIEW, CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS WELCOME.)**


	12. 11 - The One With The Meeting

**Ch. 11. The One With The Meeting**

* * *

PERCY'S POV

"Sir, Commander Stormbringer. It's time for dinner. " I was thinking about camp before all things started going down the drain, the happy times. I was so engrossed that Gregory's sudden loud voice made me jump a foot in the air.

"Holy Chaos Greg! You just have to call me not the entire camp! Take it down a notch man! And wait, I'll be there in 2. Get the boys together, we'll march outside in perfect formation rather than go like we are one of them. "

"Uhh... I would gladly do that sir, but I wouldn't be so sure your purpose would be served..."

By this time I was already outside my room and facing a nervous looking Greg.

"Care to explain what you meant? "

"Umm... it's actually that Sgt. Elmont was hungry so he..ah..decided to meet us at the dining table directly..."

"WHAT! WHY DOES THIS GUY ALWAYS WANT TO SPOIL MY PLANS! DAMM... well, okay... let's go out normally, I'll do that marching thing sometime later. Come. Let's have some food."

The dining area was at least 20 times bigger than when I... left. It was huge, but otherwise the same, like some sort of enlarging spell or something. Hmm. Impressive work Zeus. The entire Army that came could sit here comfortably at the same time. The dinner went by quickly, and I could guess from the way the campers were watching us how eager they were for the meeting. During the dinner, I was very careful not to think of any blue food or blue drink. Yes, I still love blue food. None of my childhood memories, especially those associated with my mom has been lost in my new life.

After dinner, Chiron began with a few announcements.

"Dear Campers, you all know we are at war, and you all knew how slim our chances of victory were...that is of course until we found new allies, or rather they found us. I officially welcome Commander Stormbringer of the army of Lord Chaos, Creator of this Universe, and his army. Give them a huge round of applause as a thank you. " And applause rang the air. Every camper had gratitude in their eyes, and I realized that Chaos wasn't over exaggerating, they needed us, and they needed us desperately. Just how much do they know about the enemy that they are so scared? Another question I need to be answered during the meeting. When the applause stopped, Chiron continued

"There is also another important announcement. Today's meeting is going to be held here itself in front of the whole camp. This is because we realize that every camper needs to be present for this meeting and put forth personal opinions for working out flawless strategies."

That wasn't something that ever happened here. This is strange. The Gods never care what happens to their children, they just push them to bear the brunt of the attack and then make them thank and sacrifice for them. But this? It's almost like they care. They are actually involving everyone. This visit is getting more and more interesting, to say the least.

Chiron banged his hoof loudly on the floor twice to get everyone's attention. Oh. Apparently, the announcements haven't finished.

"The Olympians and a few minor Gods are going to be present for this meeting as well. So I request you to be at your best behaviour." Again a lot of murmurings and whispers amongst the campers. While my army seemed unfazed, it was because they had no idea how things worked here, so it was all new.

Elmont, though, was as surprised as me. Being in the army for as long as he's been, he did a bang-up job hiding his expressions, but I could read his emotions displayed in his eyes. The campers seemed very gleeful that their parents were coming.

Especially the children if minor Gods like Hebe, Hecate, Nemesis and a few others seemed pretty excited. Apparently, minor Gods didn't show up much for their children. The dinner was over, and I advised the army to be free and voice opinions regardless of how small they think their query was.

If they are putting their lives at risk they have a right to know. As soon as my instructions ended, there were multiple flashes of white light. Individual flashes weren't very bright or power radiating but taken together they looked significantly bright. The minor Gods had arrived. It took about 4-5 minutes to get the 15 something minor Gods to settle down in the first row.

I along with my GIs and the immortal cabin counsellors as well as Chiron would sit in the 2nd row, and 3rd row onwards it was all mix and tussle. The Olympians were to sit on their throne facing the crowd And just like that there were 14 flashed of very bright light.

Olympians and their thrones in their usual Solstice meetings position appeared in front of us, and all the murmurs and whispers ceased. Everyone stood up and formally bowed to the Gods, except of course me and Elmont. I let Greg bow since he insisted it was his way of respecting power.

"Take your seat children and, uh... Army of Lord Chaos" Zeus finished awkwardly. He had no idea what to call us. Oh, but how would he, I haven't told him that yet. I was just about to get up and tell him when a soldier from my army said: "With all due respect, we prefer to be called by our official name, 'The army of Peace".

"Oh, sorry I wasn't informed about that. No offence intended. And you don't need to say with due respect, it's embarrassing coming from your army. "Zeus said. The name of the soldier who was having this conversation was Zephoe. A no-nonsense kind of a guy does what he says and respects not power but worthy deeds. I like him, and I know Zeus is going to be seriously embarrassed after this conversation but I won't stop him.

"Actually, Lord Zeus, you called us the army of Lord Chaos, and we refused that name not because we don't like it but because we prefer to b known by our deeds rather than by our master's. So while it is an honour that you called us that, we refused, insulting Lord Chaos during the course. So what I meant was, 'No offence to Lord Chaos, but we prefer the name that doesn't have him as an advertisement. Commander Stormbringer believes in creating one's own identity rather than banking on others'. Why would you be offended if I corrected you?"

"Oh, of course, of course, my bad I'm sorry, soldier," Zeus said, embarrassed, just as I'd predicted. I decided to intervene before Zeus actually got offended. I'm not scared of him, but that isn't the way my Army should be working with allies.

"Zeph, I'm pretty sure we are not here to discuss offences and names. Zeus, you may begin with the meeting." Zephoe nodded once towards me and took his seat, Zeus cleared his throat to get back everyone's attention. And thus began what seemed almost like a re-briefing similar to the one we had with Lord Chaos. The same thing. End is gonna attack, he's as powerful as Chaos, he has Gaea and all Titans with him, the Giants will take time to be reborn, even with the power of end, so we might not have to worry about them just yet.

"Okay, who's the best warrior here? " I asked. I obviously knew it was Jason, Nico, Annabeth and Reyna, but I still wanted to make sure.

"They are all fairly decent, but the most experienced would be the senior cabin counsellors. The immortal ones. They've been alive long enough to know the rules of the game if you know what I mean." Chiron replied. But I could see a sad glint in his eyes. I decided to push this topic further sometime later alone with Chiron to find out where it went.

"From the intel we have, sure they are skilled, but Director, being skilled and being a warrior isn't the same. I know all of them are brave, strong, loyal beyond doubts, but that still doesn't make them warriors. They are just powerful, something more gifted by blood than acquired by hard work." Elmont said. Whoa. So direct and straight to the point. This is why I like this guy so much. Sure, he's a jerk when playing PlayStation games, doesn't ever let me play once while he's at it, even if I order him, but he's still my best friend.

"Hey, what do you mean gifted? I've never received any gifts from anyone godly, ever. Heck, I haven't even seen my mom. She never comes to the meetings, Zeus says she's missing, I don't know what to do, and you just come from some random place and tell me all my training is for nothing? Listen, you must be goddamn powerful, but I don't care. I've achieved enough in my life to not be giving explanations to strangers like you." Reyna snapped very angrily.

So Bellona is still a sore subject for her. Hmm. I wonder what happened to the Amazons and hunters. I know Thalia and Hylla were the only survivors after the giant war, and that it took them years to get over the deaths of all their sisters and start recruiting new girls. In fact, from what I've heard, even Artemis and Hera (She's the patron of the Amazons) were pretty devastated.

"Then people like you, miss, are exactly what our commander needed as the answer. Take no offence. We were just putting forth our views." Reyna huffed indignantly, but I could see she was relaxing.

"So basically you need people skilled with something else other than their power? Then we have Jason, Nico, and of course Reyna." Chiron said, pointing to each one.

"And what's your weakest point strategically? " I asked.

"Why should we tell you all that? You have come here to fight, so fight, defeat and get it over with." Athena said. So someone over here has trust issues.

"An army is as strong as its weakest link Athena. I thought you of all people wouldn't need to be explained that judging by your domain. No matter. It's okay if you don't trust us yet, we have a few months to prepare, I'm sure you'll begin trusting my army by that time. And anyway we're gonna find out about your strong and weak warriors while training them. I'll ask this question again when we sit for an official war strategy meet, and hopefully, by then, you'll have grown to trust us. "

"We'll see." She replied, but it was polite.

The meeting ended, and I decided that a few questions of mine that were left unanswered could be better answered eventually during my stay here. I forgot that I'm a new guy to them and that I cannot ask them personal questions directly hoping they'll answer. So that was it for the meeting, it was pretty late, and after the Gods and Olympians had flashed away, We called it a night. I went to my room to shadow message Skylar. Shadow messaging is almost like Iris messaging, but no rainbows and there is an allowance of certain minutes, and you have to pay in the shadow by a drop of your blood each time you call post completion of allowance. Sky didn't know when she could come, she was pretty busy juggling between her as well as my Council jobs at the same time. I filled her in on the meeting, and she wished me luck for tomorrow's first day of training the campers. The message ended, and for the first time in decades, I had a dream. But it wasn't a nightmare. It was an image of Skylar. She was laughing delightfully, and I couldn't help a smile that slid on my face at her laughing voice. Her hair was looking a bit red by the sun rays and her eyes were shining with mirth. Gods of Olympus she's beautiful, I thought giddily. The dream must've lasted pretty long because just as it ended I woke up smiling (for gods know what reason). Did I really call Sky beautiful? Well of course she was, but I'd never before thought of her like that before. Uhh. Trust Earth to successfully goof up your mind.

 **(A/N: PLEASE REVIEW, CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM, ADVICE AND IDEAS ARE WELCOME.)**

 ** _REPLY TO A REVIEW BY 'LEGEND'_ : I HAD TO REPLY HERE AS THE SITE ALLOWS ME TO RESPOND TO REVIEWS BY MEMBERS ONLY. FIRST OFF, THANKS FOR YOUR FEEDBACK! YES, THE RELATIONSHIP YOU SPOKE OF WILL BE ADVANCING SOON, THIS STORY HAS OVER 30 CHAPTERS AND THIS IS JUST 1/3rd OF THAT AS YOU CAN SEE. AS TO THE FORGIVING PART, I UNDERSTAND YOUR POV, BUT IT HAS BEEN OVER 500 YEARS! THAT IS A _LOT_ TO MOVE ON, WON'T YOU AGREE? ESPECIALLY SINCE WE ARE TALKING ABOUT A PERSON WHOSE FATAL FLAW IS PERSONAL LOYALTY? HOPE THAT CLEARS UP SOME THINGS YOU SPOKE OF, THANKS FOR TAKING OUT THE TIME TO GIVE ME FEEDBACK AND TAKING INTEREST IN MY WORK. HAPPY READING!)**


	13. 12 - The One With The Traitor

Ch. 12

* * *

 **PERCY'S POV:**

The dream ended and I woke up in a jiffy. Today I would see how good my... allies... were in a fight. And today I would 'train' my ex-best friends as well. I heard a knock on my door.

"Good morning sir, it's time for breakfast. And I've conveyed your last night's message to Elmont sir, and in his words, he says its a...yeah...its a " damn blaster of an idea, why couldn't I think of it."

"Greg. Ya, I'll be out in 2 for breakfast, just unpacking a few things that remained yesterday. And you go tell Elmont to prepare for the march."

"Sure thing sir. "

I finished unpacking and... oh wait, for those of you who're thinking we got off the ship carrying a load if bags, pfft, please. You think I'd do all those things to look intimidating and then remain busy juggling bags? I told the guys to leave their bags at a certain spot, and Sky just teleported them here. They appeared in everyone's respective rooms a few minutes after we had settled.

So, as I was saying, I finished unpacking and left the room, entering the giant main hall where I could see everyone in perfect attention.

"Exactly what I wanted Elmont. And since we've done this before, I think we all know what to do, correct?

"SIR, YES, SIR! " came the loud approval of my 3000 soldiers in perfect synchronisation.

"So let's do this. Elmont, your turn to initiate phase one, it was Greg the last time."

"Yes!" He squealed like a little girl.

Exactly 12 seconds after he left the room, my whole army started banging their Shields in synchronisation, the sound reverberating through the walls of the tents. I was pretty sure the entire camp, as well as the wild spirits of the forest, could hear it. In another 10 seconds, the banging stopped and immediately we heard the booming voice of Elmont.

"Soldiers! March!" and the whole Army, in full battle armour wearing weapons almost from head to toe marched out, their footsteps sending vibrations under our feet. Gregory was leading them. I stayed back for the next phase. After everyone marched out of the tent, which took roughly 3 minutes, phase 2 began.

Gregory and Elmont spoke in a perfectly synchronized, commanding voice, "All hail Commander Stormbringer, Commander of the army of peace, right hand to Lord Chaos, member of the Primordial Council, slayer of every monster known, rider of the dangerous Cyprian Tallert, the fear of evil beings, friend of the good, lover of the wild."

My cue to get out of the tent. I calmly walked out. The army was standing right outside the tent, on either side of the tent in equal numbers forming two lines, the lines facing each other.

Everyone, including Gregor and Elmont, were bowing down to me. I raised my hand, palm facing forward, in a 'stop' gesture. As soon as I did that, everyone rose. As soon as I took my first step forward the banging of shields started, continuing till I reached the last soldier. As soon as I reached the end of the line, the banging stopped, and in one voice, we all, including me said together "Hail Lord Chaos, Hail the Primordial Council." Then I clapped my hands, and the lines broke and everyone went their separate groups towards the breakfast area. Meanwhile, the onlookers had their mouths hanging wide open.

"Sir, we have a message from Chiron"

A soldier from my army approached me.

"What's it, Andrew? "

"The hunters and Amazons have already arrived. They came together while you were getting ready for breakfast." I didn't know what to react, sure I had a good friendship with Thalia and Hylla, and I didn't hold them accountable for what happened to me. Either of them. Both were grieving over their sisters' death. Their entire army barring those two had been killed by the giant Orion.

I could understand how they felt. I am the Commander of two very big armies after all. I know what it's like to lose people who follow you with blind faith.

"Where are they as of this moment Andrew? Have they already left? I would have appreciated a meeting with them. They travel a lot, far more than the rest of the campers, and in much deeper and dark parts. They could have quite some valuable information for us."

"They said they will be staying here sir. They haven't left, they're actually waiting for you in their ping - pong table room where I am told their meetings are usually held. That was my purpose of coming here. To call you. "

"Oh. Good. The soldiers need to train today. You may go Andrew." I dismissed him. He formally bowed and left.

I turned to Elmont and Gregor.

"Greg. I and El are gonna take the campers' training today. You train the army in whatever part of the training arena you want. We'll be coming after the meeting with the campers. Put some good training display then. The campers should know what we're actually capable of. And

El, come with me to the meeting. " Both of them nodded, Greg left, and we proceeded towards the ping-pong table.

When we entered, all the talking died down, went hush. I could feel everyone looking at me, waiting for me to take a seat, probably say something, but I was busy observing two specific girls, one of them used to be my favourite cousin, the other a really close friend... of course after we got past her 'you blew up my house and handed me to pirates but I'll not kill you' mode.

Respecting women and people of power who are worthy of it was one of the first few things I'd learned when I started my journey with Lord Chaos' Army. Me and Elmont both bowed low to the two girls.

"Honoured to meet you Lieutenant of Lady Artemis, and you too, queen Hylla of the Amazons." We said together.

I could see both the girls, as well as Chiron and the immortal counsellors - whom I noticed very late, were staring at me wide-eyed. I guess my image wasn't that of a guy bowing down to people.

"We respect the worthy. So now gather yourselves and let's begin this meeting" I said.

We took our seats, special seats made for us of course since each seat here represented a godly parent, and we were with Chaos. The immortal campers were sitting at their respective parent's table, Hylla sat on the patron of Amazons - Hera's chair, while Thalia sat on Artemis' chair instead of her dad's.

Again the same news and information were put forth, nothing new. All that Thalia and Hylla could add was that the monsters were definitely increasing in numbers, but they kept their distance, even in cases where they actually outnumbered the girls on a few occasions, they backed off. I found out during the course of the discussion that the Amazons have an army of about 120 girls, while the hunters are about 20-25 in all. That's really slow growth in numbers, but after what happened in the giant war, they told me they chose only those girls who have nothing to lose or are desperate beyond a point to join.

"Seemingly someone has given the monsters clear instructions not to engage, just to observe. Apparently, our enemy is waiting for something to happen. Whether it'll happen here or on their side we don't know, but we need to be ready for any kind of threat or-

"-ATTACK!" A camper suddenly opened the door and shouted.

"We knew he was gonna say attack punk, you didn't have to break the door and shout for that" Clarisse stupidly said, but I realized he wasn't some hyper excited eavesdropper.

I and Elmont immediately sprang into action. "Get your butts up. He isn't fooling around.

The camp's under attack!"

"Of course it is! You think I would joke about such a thing! " The kid said to Clarisse, clearly offended.

" It's okay, gather everyone, we'll see what kind of attack our young friend here is talking about. Why didn't you sound the alarm, child?" Chiron asked the kid in a soothing father-like voice. Hearing this tone brings back memories of when I was 12, my first time at camp, Chiron's support, his love, his affection, everything.

"I am new here, I came only yesterday, no one showed me what to do, so I came here. Did I have to do something else? I'm sorry I didn't know. "

"Its okay, you did the absolutely right thing. C'mon now, show us this army." Meanwhile, Jason had already left to sound the alarm. We rushed outside just as Jason rang the distress alarm.

Every Camper left training activities and everything got a sword, bow, shield and rushed towards the gates. So much unison? Chiron must have told them what to do in such cases.

The whole Army was slowly coming from their training in full battle regalia, armour and all.

They are under orders to carry it at all times. Finally, that order was put to good use. I and the immortal campers rushed to the gates, Elmont with us and Chiron, my army and the campers close on our heels. The sight was unnerving, well maybe not so much to my army, we've faced worse and won, but the campers sure looked scared. The young ones were even close to crying.

I couldn't blame them. The sheer size of the army would be enough to make a normal sane person pee in his pants. But I and the army weren't normal, we were trained in this kinds of wars, this is what we did day and night. And while we fought, sane was definitely not the word people could use to describe us. The site, although intimidating, wasn't enough to aggravate me. What made my blood boil was the face of the person leading them. I could see the immortal campers as well as resembled my expressions. Chiron had a stoic expression. Before I could say anything, Thalia growled "Gwen. What are you doing here? And how the hades are you still alive?!"

"The famous lieutenant Thalia Grace! What a pleasure to finally meet you! " Gwen said in an overly sweet faux tone.

"It'll be such a pity when I'll have to kill you! But don't worry, that isn't gonna happen.. yet." She smirked evilly.

"Gwen, you are held guilty of plotting against Earth , aiding most wanted criminals, multiple innocent murders and many more crimes. We give you one chance to give up. Retreat, and we might be considerate in granting you punishment. Fight, and destruction will be all you witness." Elmont said.

Now we know she isn't gonna give up, but its standard procedure to grant one chance to every enemy.

"Yes, destruction I will surely witness. Your destruction. " Gwen growled.

"But we haven't come here to fight. What you see before you is but a fraction of our army." She smirked before continuing,

"You puny demigods are too naive and weak to pose a threat to our might. You just delay the inevitable by fighting. So I give you an offer, join our forces, and you will be pardoned. Stand against us, and that's the last stand you'll ever take." Gwen said in a very calm but intimidating voice.

"Like hell, we'll be by your side. At first, we planned to go down fighting, but now that we have the aide of the Army of Peace, we'll take you down." Annabeth said angrily.

"Oh, your stupid army that you think can save you!" Gwen laughed heartily.

"That's pretty much actually why we came here. Who is this commander that I have heard so much boasting about? You haven't spoken a single word yet, commander." She said tauntingly.

"I don't speak to middle people Gwen. Where's your master? Busy hiding his scared butt from us I presume?"

"You insolent madman! How dare you insult my master! Do you even know how powerful he is? "

"As a matter of fact I do - how and why? that's for me to know and you to find out." I smirked.

"Enough talk. As we said, we haven't come here to fight, we've come for another reason. We have an offer for the Army of Peace. I challenge your commander storm-whatever his name is to a one on one duel, swordfight, a battle to the death. The conditions are that should you lose, the army will retreat from here, never to set foot on Earth or mingle with our affairs."

"And what if we win?" Nico said.

"Not we Nico, him. I'll fight only the commander. And win. But just to make you feel good, I'll say. If you win, obviously it's gonna be a fight to the death so I'll die, and this army you see here will retreat. This portion of our army, just like your allies the Army of Peace if commander loses will vow never to return to attack this camp.

"We need to confer with everyone. We won't take any decision in haste." Annabeth said.

"Yeah yeah whatever take your own time, just remember we do not have all day. "

Every senior counsellor, as well as Chiron and the army, gathered for a quick meet.

"I'll fight, and I'll win, and I'll make sure she swears by her terms on the river Styx. There's no better way." I declared.

"That's your call. But you don't have to do this. Your experience and knowledge would be more than sufficient for us. We cannot ask you to die for us, Commander Stormbringer." Chiron said sincerely.

"Director, we aren't fighting this war for your sake. It's our job, one we are honoured and glad to perform. You guys go and tell her I'm ready to fight, meanwhile, I'll get myself ready. Elmont, stay with the campers and help them, be vigilant at all times, from all directions. Remember, this might all be a ruse. Gregor, come with me, help me prepare. "

10 MINUTES LATER:

"I'm ready. " I said, appearing in full battle armour with a few hidden weapons concealed within various places. Both sides swore on the Styx and got ready for the fight. I carry duel swords, an upgraded version of Riptide that isn't recognizable and another sword made of Temporal gold, crafted by Skylar as my birthday gift. Its a wickedly raven black sword intricately patterned with my first 10 missions on display in tiny font."

Gwen was also in full body armour, wearing a helmet and had a sword and a shield. The shield would protect her but make her slow. She will have to play defensive. That's the reason I don't use a shield. I like playing attacking. "All the best commander, make it quick and simple, may the fates be with you." Elmont wished me.

"Let's see what you've got, oh great Commander. " Gwen smirked.

The smirk was quickly wiped off of her face when I said. "Of course Gwen... or should I say, Gwenoria." Now it was my turn to smirk.

She growled and, without a warning attacked. Not boasting or anything, but according to my standards, she wasn't even worthy of sparing with me. But I decided to make the fight last a bit longer so that my side wouldn't become overconfident. She slashed, I parried, she stabbed, I dodged.

It went on like this for about 5 minutes, duck roll slash stab dodge, and my lack of attention at one point earned her a lucky hit on me. It was just a tiny scratch on my shoulder though, so no real harm was done. I decided to end it then and there.

"Enough toying traitor, you're about to lose your challenge," I said calmly. I increased my speed to tenfold, slashed a few quick times piercing her armour multiple times and making huge gashes on her shoulder, chest, abdomen and legs. "Goodbye Gwen" I whispered."You should have killed me that day when I left camp." I whispered in her ears.

The realization about my identity dawned on her face, but it was too late by then. I decapitated her in a quick stab and ended the battle. The army members knew from the beginning I wasn't trying, so they just clapped, but the campers erupted in cheers and celebrations. Gwen was dead, her Army left, but I have a feeling we are missing the plot here. Why challenge one on one if you have such a huge army? Why get one of your own killed even before the battle commences?

Something's amiss, and I intend to find out what. But as of today, the threat is neutralized. I have a feeling I'll be seeing Kronos and the Titans soon, maybe along with their mother Gaea. The Council's Army comes with Skylar in 2 days. I hope nothing much happens till then. And I should call Filos now, he wanted a break which he deserved after accompanying in all my missions and saving my lives countless times. I already miss him.

 **(A/N: HOW'S IT GOIN' GUYS? AS USUAL, ALL TYPES OF COMMENTS AND CRITICISM IS APPRECIATED, PLEASE REVIEW AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK. I DO READ ALL THE REVIEWS, ALL THOUGH I KNOW THERE IS NO WAY TO RESPOND TO THEM WITH A THANKS SO** **I'M** **JUST THANKING ALL OF YOU HERE!)**


	14. 13 - The One With The One Sided Fight

_RECAP :_ _(I decapitated Gwen in a quick stab and ended the battle. The army members knew from the beginning I wasn't trying, so they just clapped, but the campers erupted in cheers and celebrations. Gwen was dead, her Army left, but I have a feeling we are missing the plot here. Why challenge one on one if you have such a huge army? Why get one of your own killed even before the battle commences?_

 _Something's amiss, and I intend to find out what. But as of today, the threat is neutralized. I have a feeling I'll be seeing Kronos and the Titans soon, maybe along with their mother Gaea. The Council's Army comes with Skylar in 2 days. I hope nothing much happens till then. And I should call Filos now, he wanted a break which he deserved after accompanying me in all my missions and saving my life countless times. I'm already missing him.)_

* * *

Ch. 13

* * *

PERCY'S POV

"Percy! Wake up fast! It's an emergency!"

"What's got your panties in a twist at such a time El?" I muttered sleepily. What? It was 2:30 in the morning, of course, I was asleep!

"It's about Filos! He's seriously wounded and is calling for you!"

I awoke with a start. It took me a few seconds to comprehend what Elmont was screaming outside my door, but once the words sunk in I didn't wait a minute before putting my mask and uniform on, and in about two minutes, I was facing a nervous, very worried looking Elmont.

"The wounds are deep Percy, it's clear he tried to defend himself very bravely, but the arrow with which he was hit was poisonous, fatal enough to kill him. "

"What! What are you saying Elmont! Do you mean.. are you saying..?" I couldn't even complete the statement mentally, let alone speak it out loud.

"Holy Chaos Percy, of course not! Weren't you listening when I woke you? He's alive Perce but in critical condition. Let's go, fast. He'll want you the most at such times."

I quickly held Elmont's hand and teleported us to the sickbay. "Where is he! Why can't I see him anywhere?!" I screamed.

"Jesus Christ Percy calm down! You think we would have a 20-foot tallert in our sickbay meant for people not even half the size!"

Elmont shouted back frustratingly.

"Follow me. He's in one of the pegasi stables."

Elmont led me near the stables. As I got closer, I could hear a soft groaning noise. I rushed to where the voice was coming from.

What I saw left my mouth agape and eyes wide open. Filos was being treated by almost all the healers: old and young, experienced and inexperienced likewise, and yet all this treatment seemed to be having absolutely no effect on his wounds. His whole body was covered in scars, but what was most agonising for me to watch was his chest. There was a baseball sized see-through hole in his chest, from where a green coloured liquid of some sort - probably the poison from that arrow, was gushing out. That was the main injury the healers were all after. I immediately grabbed Filos' paws and held them tightly.

"You'll get better, big guy, don't worry. I'll be here until you need me."

"I know you will Percy, I know you will. But you know this is a serious injury. So look, just in case-"

"Don't. Don't you dare complete that sentence, Filos? Nothing's gonna happen to you." To my surprise, Filos started chuckling.

"What? The wound is affecting your brain? "

"It's you who should get your brain checked Perce. You really think I would even think something as demoralising as that? What I was about to say was that just in case I am unable to heal before the war, I have come to know there is a traitor at Camp Half-Blood."

"What! Who? And how do you know about this Filos? Has that got anything to do with your injury? Ho-"

"Calm down Percy. Don't ask so many questions. I was just passing by a planet when a few old friends of mine told me about this. We're not sure about the name, but as far as they know it's a child of the Olympian God Hermes. As to how I am in such a predicament, you have our old friend Thesor to thank for that." He ended bitterly.

"Thesor? Of the Aspiron planet? Why what did he do? He was a good informer to me for a long time."

"He has sided with End, Percy, and it seems like his first job was to eliminate all who ally with the demigods. But obviously he couldn't attack here otherwise he would be handed his ass on a platter, but he saw me travelling and grasped that opportunity."

"He's not that strong. How did he manage to injure you so severely?"

"He must've called for End's minions - a lot of them when he saw me. Then he called me to have a chat. I wasn't aware he had switched sides. Suddenly a few moments later I was attacked by various creatures. I was barely managing to defeat them when that traitor made his move. The result, well, you can see this hole in my chest. "

While Filos was narrating this incident, he was constantly wincing in pain. With every wince, my anger was rising.

"Two things I know for sure, Filos. One - you will heal in time for this war and accompany me, two - it's 3 in the morning, Thesor isn't gonna see the sunrise today." I growled.

I hate two kinds of people the most - traitors, and liers. He's both. Soon he'll be neither, nonexistent if I may say so. Filos just nodded, he knew it was useless to stop me when I made up my mind, and besides, we both agreed that Thesor more than deserved it.

* * *

 **1.5 hours later**

I was pissed. No, beyond pissed. I was maddeningly furious. Why? Well, you know I pledged to kill Thesor before sundown? That's done, no problem. But while I was on it, there was a surprise attack on _my_ Army base at Regalia, a planet close to Celestio. The soldiers were obviously skilled enough to escape without a casualty on our side. Intel suggests they were End's minions, but I didn't have to be informed by them to know that.

So, me killing Thesor was a well-planned distraction, and I fell for it. That's what was more frustrating. Not that he attacked, that's what villains do. But I fell for it. Apparently, he knew I'd go get a guy who betrayed me and attacked Filos. So he planned to almost get Filos killed just to ensure my absence.

Okay. Enough of this shit now. He needs to realize what he's up against. The next time I see his minions, I'll make an example out of him.

"This is lieutenant Elmont for Commander Stormbringer. Sir, Commander Stormbringer, we have a situation on earth, do you copy?" My walkie-talkie buzzed. Now? Seriously? Couldn't there have been another time for trouble to brew?

"This is the commander, go ahead Elmont. What happened?" I replied.

"Sir, we have received reports of a possible attack on Camp Half-Blood. Our enemies have raised an army, roughly 20,000 monsters along with giants - we don't know which giants or how many. We need you."

"Giants? We were informed they wouldn't rise at all in time for war!"

"Yeah, well, apparently they have. If Filos is fine and you could come, that'd be great. The numbers aren't anything we can't handle, of course, so stay with Filos if you have to."

"He's fine now. I'll be there in a few."

"Sure, what are your orders till then?

"Gather the boys and hold on the borders if you have to. Keep the campers out of this. It's a direct order. We'll deal with this _my style,_ over. "

"Right sir. Over and out."

I was pretty sure Elmont could feel the growl in my voice.

20,000 enemies. Great. No better time to set an example. The campers as well will stay in check after today.

I went to Skylar, bid her farewell, checked on Filos - he was asleep.

Then I teleported back, directly to my cabin's room in the camp.

I quickly gathered the remainder of my weapons I'd left in a hurry.

I could hear noises coming from outside, arguments, more precisely. Annabeth and Elmont. I should have anticipated this.

The campers, especially the immortal ones, won't appreciate me leaving them out of the fight. I strolled out in my full battle armour. The soldiers were standing in a line formation just at the boundary of the camp, with the campers behind them.

Apparently, Chiron had convinced the campers that if I had given an order I must've thought about it before, but the immortal campers were all impatient to fight. I couldn't blame them, they'd been training for a long time, and hadn't tried it out on anyone.

"Miss Chase, Jason and you all. I req-" Nico cut me off.

"You can keep the campers out, but not us, commander, you're not our commander, and Chiron knows better than to keep us out. We're not children."

"You're not. But this isn't about you. It's about me. You haven't been told of this, but I have a constant companion and a very close friend of mine who was to join us today. Instead, End played a few dirty tricks and now he's in a critical condition. He'll live, but there was this chance he wouldn't make it. While I was punishing the betrayer who did this, there was an attack on my Army's base. End again. No casualties, but could have been. He wants to take out all your allies. I need to warn him to not make it personal, that the Army of Peace is not to be messed with." By this time the whole camp - Greeks, Romans, Hunters, Amazons, Chiron, even Lupa was here.

"What do you mean, personal? You have readied a whole army, so why not add us? Just us immortal campers, Thalia, Hylla... The experienced ones." Reyna said.

"Readying an army doesn't mean I'll use them. I haven't used my powers in a long while. The army stays as a guard, while I'll be fighting the enemy. Singlehandedly. We know their numbers, and I certainly won't get a better chance to put forth my views about End. Trust me just this once. I know you're all dying to fight, but this is the beginning. Save your energy for later. Things are gonna get much more messy and gory, you need to be at your best for them. "

Some more arguements and some incistence from Chiron and Lupa later, they all eventually nodded, but not before I agreed they could join the fight if there were more than 2 giants. Some seemed less convinced than the others, but they all agreed, that's what mattered.

Just as they all nodded in unison, the conch blew, signalling that the enemy was within visible range.

"You can relax and do your daily activities, or you can watch, the choice is yours. I'll be going now, I have a fight to win, a primordial to piss." I smirked.

With that, I set off to the boundary, and I could see them.

Excellent.

Just 2 giants, Poryphrion and oh Holy Chaos, Polybotes. He might recognize me. He's the anti-Poseidon after all, and I cannot weaken let alone break my family ties of being the son of the sea, ever. I need to keep him distracted with something else while I take out the others so that I can make quick work of him so that he is dead before he can give me away.

"Soldiers, rain down arrows on Polybotes until I'm done with the rest of the army. Now. " I commanded.

And so it began. The soldiers had him occupied, but it wouldn't be for long. I needed to hurry up. I gave up all my restraint, unleashing myself on the army. Slash, stab, thwack, kill, find another monster. That's how it went until in under two minutes the whole army was destroyed. Porphyrion and Polybotes both looked shell-shocked, and I could bet the campers resembled these expressions, even though I didn't have time to glance back. Polybotes was still getting rained down with arrows, so I attacked Poryphiron.

"You punny creature! You will die today! "

"Just fight, and we'll find out. "I growled.

I could have used my water powers here, but giving away that I was a son of Poseidon wouldn't be a smart move. Me being the assassin hellfire, wielder of the deadly hellfire was also a secret that needed to be well guarded. That was only for when End himself came face to face. But I still had a lot of tricks up my sleeve.

I concentrated on the ground beneath Poryphiron, and with a strong wave, I made the ground shake. Just that part of the ground. I made a fist and Poryphiron's legs were caught in the ground.

"Mo...Mother... What are you doing?" He screamed, taken aback.

"It's not your mother, stupid. Just because she's the earth doesn't mean only she can use the ground's power," I smirked. I then made a motion with my hand up to down, with my palms open and facing the ground. A bolt of lightning that could rival Zeus' bolt struck the giant square in the chest. He fell down hard on the ground. I unsheathed my sword and ran like a blur to the fallen giant, jumping high in the air from a distance, landing directly on his now severely charred chest.

"Tell End that wars are fought in battlefields, giant. If he makes it personal there's not a place in the Universe where I'll not find him and.. End him, so to speak." With that, I struck my sword and sliced his head off, which started disintegrating until nothing was left of him.

"Brother! What have you done, you insolent human! You dare kill him! I'll kill you so painfully you'll beg for death! " Polybotes screamed, cursing me in ancient Greek.

"He said something similar, see where it got him."

He ran towards me with anger and murder raging in his eyes. I simply pointed my palm to him, facing him, and created a wall. The giant hit the wall with such force that he fell back a few feet. He stammered back a few feet. I used another lightning bolt, but Polybotes expected this and deflected it with his trident.

3rd Person's POV/ NARRATOR'S POV:

But Percy still had a few more things up his sleeves. He summoned dark clouds above them and in a slow movement, he began to move his hand in a circle. This resulted in a huge tornado, and the clouds burst to pour down rain along with lightning and thunder.

But all this was only in the particular part of the land where the giant stood. To the demigods, this looked terrifying, but the army didn't even as much as flinch at their commander's raw display of power.

The giant was caught in a massive tornado with rain, thunder and lightning. His job was done, a statement of power was delivered to his enemies. So he decided to finish this. He thrust his hand towards the giant, making him fall backwards with a sickening crunch.

The impact and the effects of the storm were so severe that Polybotes disintegrated the moment he hit the ground. When he turned back, he saw his army smiling, and the terrified looks in the campers eyes.

Well, apparently he had some explaining to do.

 **(A/ N: LIKE ALWAYS, REVIEW AND SHARE YOUR FEEDBACK, I READ EACH ONE OF THEM. CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS WELCOME. THIS BOOK HAS A LOT LEFT, WE ARE NOT EVEN INTO THE WAR OR PROPHECIES YET. EVERY CHARACTER WILL SOON FIND A ROLE AND HOPEFULLY, YOU GUY WILL FIND SOME ENTERTAINMENT!)**


	15. 14 - The One With The Spy

_(RECAP: His job was done; a statement of power was delivered to his enemies. So he decided to finish this. He thrust his hand towards the giant, making him fall backwards with a sickening crunch. The impact and the effects of the storm were so severe that Polybotes disintegrated the moment he hit the ground. When he turned back, he saw his army smiling and the terrified looks in the campers' eyes. Well, apparently he had some explaining to do.)_

* * *

Ch. 14

* * *

PERCY'S POV:

Ugly. That's how these deaths looked. Even if they were monsters and Giants, I'd killed them in a pretty brutal way. Usually I wasn't so violent, but End needed to realize that if he enjoyed pissing me off again then he should be prepared for the consequences. I could tell from the campers' faces that they were freaked out at my raw display of power and heartlessness. Oh well, apparently they don't understand the meaning of family. I chuckled darkly at that thought. Of course they didn't, otherwise I wouldn't have been kicked out.

"What was that! You have that kind of power?" Piper asked wide-eyed, pointing to where the fight had just ended.

"Yes, Ms Mclean. Of course, I do. I'm a member of the Primordial Council, second in power only to Lord Chaos. I'm not sure what else you were expecting from me." I replied with a raised eyebrow.

"You... What! Member of the Primordial Council? You mean the primordial Council?! When did that happen?!" Jason exclaimed.

"About 25 years ago. Why what's so shocking about that? You weren't informed about that by Chiron? " I said the last statement looking at Chiron.

''I'm pretty sure I would have told them if I was informed in the first place," Chiron said.

"What? So the Gods didn't tell you? Strange. Well. Now you know. So we're on the same page? "

"Of course we aren't! You being a member of the Council is beside the point! How could you deliver such a brutal death? You kill every monster so brutally?" Annabeth replied, looking at me like I was a disgusting piece of spoilt smelly food. That pissed me off. After all she had done to me, she had no right to judge me.

"Miss chase, if you've got a problem I'll leave. But I won't change my ways just because you are far too soft to do what needs to be done. Or perhaps you should leave, war is not for the faint-hearted." I said coldly.

She seemed taken aback at my cold outburst. She was about to say something but I interrupted

"You have no idea what Filos means to me. End dared attack him. And unfairly on top of that. My army is like my family, and he dared to attack that place as well. He needed to be reminded what kind of an enemy he was dealing with. Now if you'll excuse me, I don't have time for you, I need to train people to save their lives."

With that, I sped up to the training arena where the scheduled class was waiting for me, and I began teaching. The rest of the day was uneventful, boring. I was missing Skylar already. None of my missions were so long, and even if I was gone for a lengthy period of time, I didn't visit my ex-home where my ex-girlfriend and ex-teacher had banished me for the 'good' of others. I needed someone who could understand me. Of course there was Elmont, but he was busy. Since this place brought past memories he had taken most of my jobs on his head. All I had to do was train the bunch of campers assigned to me. Besides,the bond me and Sky had was a totally unique one, irreplaceable and unbreakable. I missed her so much. Her advice, her support, her laugh, her eyes that always sparkled with hope, her.. Everything. Just her presence gave me hope. Funny. This feeling.. Its like a deja vu. I felt the same when I used to miss Annabeth before my life spiralled into a mess. Wait, what? Does that mean.. No of course not, but... Is it possible? Am I falling in love with Skylar? Do I have feelings for her? Whoa... I need to stop thinking about this and concentrate on the war otherwise I'll go crazy. Anyway I just have to wait another day. I survive tomorrow, I can see her and my army the day later.

Right now, I need to address the problem Filos told me about. The Spy. I went to Chiron to request a meeting of cabin leaders ASAP. He agreed, and ordered a kid passing by to summon the head counselors in the ping pong table. I told him I'd be back in a minute, I had something to take care of. Army related stuff.

When I entered the ping pong table, almost everyone had arrived. The 2 Roman Praetors - Frank and Reyna sat on their chairs that were specially built for them by the Heaphestus cabin. Queen Hylla also had a chair built for her by the Heaphestus kids. Then there were the Greek cabin leaders. We were waiting for the Stoll brothers and Thalia Grace. Soon the stoll brothers came, grinning like madmen. Hmm.. Another successful prank I guess. Some people can never change, I chuckled mentally. Thalia was the last one to arrive, but her expressions weren't half as cheery as the Stolls. She was pissed off at something. She took her seat in Artemis' chair.

"Thalia, what's wrong?" Annabeth asked with concern eminent in her voice.

"Nothing. Let's begin the meeting, shall we?" Thalia said, trying to compose her expressions. She did a good job, but people who knew her for a long time couldn't be fooled, her eyes gave her away. And in here, almost everyone knew her for a long time, so nobody was fooled. Well, she'll tell us if she needs to. Annabeth was looking at her friend skeptically.

But we didn't have time for this. I cleared my throat.

When I got everyone's attention, I began

"You all know that there was an attack at camp today. The threat is neutralized for now, but it's just the beginning."

"You always keep saying that. What else are you expecting? I think the next war will be it. The final battle. The rest of the Giants, Gaea, the Titans, End, everyone will attack together." Clarisse said.

"She's right, we need to prepare for the big battle," Travis said.

"Which we would have if Commander Stormbringer here wouldn't have called for an abrupt meeting," Jason added, looking pointedly at me.

"Which is exactly why I suggest you all stop speaking and give him a chance to tell us the reason," Chiron said, a bit irritated that there were constant interruptions.

"Thank you, Director Chiron. The war is indeed a problem, but that will have to wait. We have a far greater problem, one that can tip the war in our enemies' favour."

"And that is..? " Nico said.

"The same problem you had during the Titan War of New York. We have a spy." I replied.

I was greeted with multiple responses ranging from "What!" from Clarisse to "Impossible!" from Jason to "Not again!" in unison from the Stolls. Chiron was deep in thought and so was Annabeth, considering my statement. But the most shocking one wasn't a statement or silence. It was the expressions. From Thalia. For a second as soon as I said it, she became deathly pale, all the colour from her face drained. These expressions lasted for only a second before she composed herself. In fact I was just lucky to have had glanced at that same instant otherwise I'd have missed that completely. What is she hiding? The way she turned deathly pale it almost seemed like she was herself the spy. But I know her. Despite what she did to me, she has a sense of honor and she could never knowingly stoop so low. But she certainly knows something about this spy business. I decided to let go of this for a while. I decided to catch this spy myself. I had a plan. But I found it difficult to trust the campers again. And it would be unfair to the campers if I told the army, so I decided to share it only on a 'need to know' basis.

I cleared my throat and began "Okay listen. I just notified you about this so that you don't share anything discussed here out of this room. No strategies leave this room. You just keep things in mind and order your cabin mates to do things accordingly. No telling them the complete plan. Remember. Everyone should know only bits and pieces, nothing enough to pass on the info to our enemy and get us in trouble. Okay?"

Everyone nodded, even Thalia. She seemed to have composed herself and was now behaving her usual self. Oh well. First I gotta take care of this spy, then we'll see about her. Filos had told me the spy was a son of Hermes, but he wasn't absolutely sure. So I didn't speak it out loud. Such sensitive info could create gaps in the army and it was ill-advised in the middle of a war.

After everyone left, I stayed back to have a word with Chiron.

"Director Chiron, if you could give me a minute?"

"Of course Commander, and it's just Chiron if you don't mind." He said politely. Gods, I had missed his fatherly tone so much. I'd thought he would be wary, but he was smiling at me instead. Before I started tearing up, I returned his smile and began. "Chiron it is. So, Chiron. I'm sure you remember that the Council's Army is going to arrive tomorrow by dawn?"

"Of course I remember Commander. We have a welcome party awaiting their arrival, and all their needs have been taking care of. The nymphs have been ordered to make more food; the harpies are cleaning the part where you said you made them a cabin today just like you did yours, the-"

"I'm not much worried about their reception Chiron. It's fine. They're assassins, not celebrities. I just needed to tell you that Skylar is coming with them. And so is someone very special and dear to me"

"Who is Skylar? And what do you mean someone special and dear to you? "He asked confused.

Oh, of course, the way I said it, it sounded like Sky was just some ordinary person. I wouldn't blame Chiron for forgetting her name. He must have heard it like, once or twice in his long existence.

"By Skylar, I meant Princess Skylar Void, daughter of Chaos and member of the Primordial Council. That rings a bell?" I smiled kindly at him.

But he considerably paled. "Wh...What? You mean _her_? The Lady Skylar? I don't understand. Why would she come? Have we offended her?"

"No, you haven't. She's going to be a part of this mission. She is a good friend of mine and has offered her aide in this mission."

"Oh. Okay, Commander. It would be our honour to host Her Majesty the Princess of the Universe." Chiron said before continuing, "You still didn't answer my other question, who is this special person close to you that will come with them?"

"That is for me to know and you to find out. Don't worry. It's nobody troublesome. "I assured him.

"Oh okay."

I nodded and was about to leave when a wicked thought crossed my mind. Well, let's have some fun with Skylar as welcoming shall we? I chuckled mentally at the thought.

"Uh... Chiron, please bear in mind, Princess Skylar appreciates formalities and gets very angry if somebody addresses her wrongly. I hope you understand." I said. I was laughing hysterically inside, just imagining her face when the whole camp would bow down to 'Lady Skylar'!"

Well, that reminds me, I need to begin phase 1 of my plan. I went to my cabin, entered and locked my room. After applying sound proof barriers, I IMed Skylar. She had just returned from her baths and was wrapped in a towel. I blushed and was about to swipe my hand through the image when she saw me.

"Percy! Hi! Uh...Ohh... " she blushed realising she was semi-naked.

She hurriedly went inside blushing uncontrollably. I couldn't say anything though. My own face must've resembled a tomato. She returned wearing a blue top and black ripped skinny jeans. She looked so beautiful. Her wet hair, her sparkling eyes, her perfect lips... Ohh no not again. I quickly averted my gaze from her face, but not before I saw her blushing as well. From anger or embarrassment, I couldn't tell.

'Uh. Oh.. Uhh... You called Percy, what happened? "

I quickly regained my composure and said

"Yes. Listen. I know you're coming tomorrow. But I need your help with something. Remember I told you Filos has information that there's a spy within the camp?"

When she nodded I continued "I need your help in capturing this spy. Listen..."

I narrated my whole plan. At the end of the plan, she was grinning from ear to ear.

"Not bad Percy. Not bad at all. Let's just hope whoever this spy falls for it."

"So, see you tomorrow? "

"If the preparations are done, then yeah see you tomorrow. Otherwise maybe the day after. All the best."

"You too." With that, she swiped her hands on the mist and the IM disappeared.

Well, all I had to do was wait. The rest of the day was as usual uneventful. Night came, and I fell asleep thinking about how stunning Skylar looked in her blue top and jeans with her wet hair lose.

The next morning I woke up right before dawn. I wasn't surprised to see the whole camp up to this early and training with my army. They were all waiting to welcome the Princess. If she could make it that is.

I IMed Fritz, Skylar's bodyguard and PA to check how long before they landed. Fritz appeared before the screen. I could feel Hazel watching intently, curious as to who I was IMing this early in the morning.

"Hey, Fritz. How long till ya'll reach here?"

"Oh about another 5 minutes or so, we're just landing."

"Excellent. Is she with you?"

"Oh. No. She couldn't make it. Said she had some errands to run. But she insisted I assist you, took someone else as bodyguard I think."

"Oh. Okay. She'll be here by tomorrow then. Umm... Fritz... Is he with you?" I asked. "Yes sir, he's with me, dancing somewhere around here I think." Fritz smiled warmly.

"Oh, I can't wait now!" I said excitedly.

Hazel had watched everything, and I could say I'd piqued her interest. It's not every day that I'm so excited at the prospect of someone arriving after all. She went to the big house immediately, probably to tell them that the guests were gonna be here any minute. Everyone came out in a few, and as if just on queue, a ship landed just outside the camp's borders. Slowly everyone disembarked from the ship and neared the camp borders. An army of 160 trained assassins. The most elite of the elite, the best warriors in the universe. Clad in deep black armour, a shade of black that would make Hades envious, the army looked truly intimidating and deadly. The stood in perfect formation, with Fritz leading the charge. Yeah, he also happens to be my first in command for the Council's Army along with Skylar's bodyguard.

"Is that... A kid?". Jason said, pointing towards a figure clinging on to Fritz's legs as if holding on for dear life. The kid looked barely 7 years old.

Murmurs started spreading around the camp. What was a kid doing here? Did he belong to the army? Was he a lost camper that the army had found?

Fritz cleared his throat and extended his arm to Chiron who now was standing near the borders, ready to welcome the allies.

"Good morning Centaur. You must be Chiron. I'm Fritz, the second in command of the army you see in front of you." He said authoritatively but kindly.

"Mr Fritz. Thank you for coming to help us. Indeed I'm Chiron, and these are the immortal campers, the best fighters of the camp. Welcome to our camp, it's a pleasure to meet you." Chiron said respectfully, bowing down a little.

"You don't need to bow centaur. We are allies, we should be friends, comfortable with each other. Not wary of each other." Fritz assured him.

Good going, Fritz. Make them more comfortable. They need to trust all of us, otherwise, this war is lost even before it fully begins!

"Uhh... Mr Fritz, if you don't mind me asking, who's that?" Annabeth said pointing to the child.

There was my cue. I went forward and announced happily

"That, Miss Annabeth and all of you, is the special guest I was talking to you all about. His name is Andrew, and he's my-"

Just before I could complete my statement, Andrew rushed towards me with outstretched hands, smiling delightfully and screaming "Daddy!"

I hugged him dearly. Everyone had their mouths agape. Excluding the army of course. They just watched the events with affection eminent in their eyes. "Explain," Frank said, pointing at the child.

"What's there to explain? He's my son. He's almost 7, and the most adorable mortal to ever exist!" I said.

"Since when did you have a child?"

"Where's her mother?" Questions from everyone started flooding in my ears.

"Guys. I've been his father since he was born. His mother and father were both in the army. They died during a battle. And left him. I believe they died while I was leading them so it was my fault. When I went to see him after his parents died, he looked so cute and adorable in his crib that I couldn't resist myself. I took him in my hands, took him to my HQ and never looked back. I love him more than anything, I could do anything for him. He was crying since the day before, saying he missed me a lot, so I had him brought here. He'll return home during the war of course, but until then he's here." I completed my speech.

They had content expressions after my explanation. The Council's Army was welcome just like The Army of Peace was. I was with Andrew the whole day. But then Clarisse called me into her cabin to check on a few plans and weapons. Now no way in hell was I going to bring my kid inside a cabin full of armed buried mines and whatnot. So I told him to wait outside. Little did I know that what was about to come would make the Ares cabin look like a garden of flowers.

When I went outside, Andrew wasn't there. I thought he must've gone inside one of the cabins. I checked each and every cabin but found no trace of him. That's when I started panicking. "Andrew! Andrew!" Now the whole camp was out searching for my son. The forests were searched, so were the borders. The rec room, training arena, the big house, everything. But to no avail. Where could he go?

Just then I got my answer.

"Where could the kid go? Oh, wait... Maybe End has captured him! Commander! You should probably give up! Leave with your army while you still can!" A kid of Hermes said, laughing mockingly at me.

I remembered his name.

"James," I growled. "So you are the Spy. Where is my son? What have you done, where have you taken him? I asked menacingly, taking out my sword.

"Haha hell yeah that's right. And I chose to reveal myself right now 'cause you have no choice but to retreat or let the poor kid die, so these campers have already lost the war. They stand no chance against my masters or his mighty army." He said, confident he'd won the war. And he may just have hit my sore spot. I did publicly announce I could do anything for Andrew. I meant it. Literally. Anything.

 **(A/ N: PLEASE REVIEW, CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS APPRECIATED.)**


	16. 15 - The One Where The Kid Grows

_(Recap:_ _"Haha hell yeah that's right. And I chose to reveal myself right now 'cause you have no choice but to retreat or let the poor kid die, so these campers have already lost the war. They stand no chance against my master or his mighty army." He said, confident he'd won the war. And he may just have hit my sore spot. I did publicly announce I could do anything for Andrew. I meant it. Literally. Anything.)_

* * *

Ch. 15

* * *

 **PERCY'S POV**

"So Commander." He said mockingly.

"What will it be? Let your son die or let these stupid campers die?" He snorted while saying 'son'.

"I'll tell you, but before that can you tell me whether revealing yourself was your choice or end's orders?"

"I don't speak directly to Master End. My Lord Kronos told me to give you this message Stormbringer. But why does it matter anyway? You either stay out of the war or see your kid's dead body, what do you want?"

"That's what I thought. Kronos is still as foolish as ever. But you? You'll kill a 7-year-old in the name of war? That's what this camp has taught you?"

"This camp has taught me that the Gods never support us! This camp has taught me that nobody cares about us! We have a threat only from monsters. Now I befriended them, so I can live my life peacefully! And if I serve my master right, he'll even let me be his new host!"

"You are a fool. Giving up your body and free will to a maniac. Return my son back and I'll tell the Gods to forgive you for what you've done. I'll get you a chance at redemption, take it before it's too late. "

"Shut up! You have no idea what it feels like to be a demigod! I heard what kind of lives you live on your planet. So peaceful, so relaxed. You'll never understand what it's like to live in constant fear, to live as if no one cares about you."

Oh who would know better than me. I was the most hunted down demigod in the history of demigods. But saying that would give away too much of my identity. And besides, I saw what I was waiting for, a black-haired small figure crouching behind a bush, ready to pounce on James.

"Well James, you made your choice. I knew I couldn't convince you, but I had to try. And now that you declare you're an enemy agent, I'm afraid I'll have to arrest you and take you to our prison on Celestio.

He paled a bit "Wh.. What? You don't want the kid back? I meant it, you know - they'll kill him!"

"If only they could. " said a voice from behind the bushes. And suddenly a blur of raven black hair and a shining temporal white sword pounced on James, making him fall on the floor with the sword pointing at his neck pinning him down. James' eyes widened "You! How! That's impossible! How did you escape!"

"Nice job Andrew," I told the figure, who was indeed Andrew.

"Thanks, daddy. Now lets arrest this criminal shall we?"

Soon my army had their weapons pointed at James and he was cuffed and taken by a few men to our prison at Celestio, where justice awaited him.

Meanwhile, the campers could only see with widened eyes what had transpired. A 7-year-old just took out a 16-year-old camper who had been training since the past 6 years at camp. And made it look so easy.

"Are you alright child?" Chiron asked, his fatherly instincts kicking in.

"Of course I am, centaur, but thanks for asking." came the reply from Andrew. And the campers stared at him in awe and confusion. Because he had just said that in a girl's voice. An adult girl's voice.

"Okay now enough messing around with them! Reveal yourself!"

"Oh, but I was having so much fun! " Andrew pouted. And then there was a bright flash. Brighter than what the Olympians caused when they revealed their true form, but unlike that light, this one was harmless to the mortal eye. You could watch it with open eyes, and not burst or be blinded on the spot. And when the light died down, in Andrew's place there was a brunette girl with onyx eyes and a well-set expression, her face determined and her posture straight with her head held high. She had regal clothes on and emanated a higher amount of power than the big three combined. Every camper drew their weapons and pointed them at this mysterious being, but I interrupted

"Campers! Relax! Is this how you treat the Princess of the universe?"

"What? But I thought you said she wasn't coming today? And she just transformed from a 7-year-old boy! How can we even trust this is her true form?" Jason said.

I rolled my eyes at his immaturity.

"Jason, she is the Princess of the Universe, don't you think she can change her form according to her will? I mean, just look at the power radiating from her. Even minor Gods can do such cheap parlour tricks!"

"Children, I think Commander Stormbringer is correct. I'm sure he has an explanation for all this. Lower your weapons!" Chiron said hastily, fearing that the Princess might obliterate the whole camp with her power if provoked or insulted.

Once the weapons were lowered, the Princess cleared her throat and addressed Chiron

"Wise decision Centaur. Yes, Commander Stormbringer speaks correctly. I'm Princess Skylar Void, daughter of Chaos. I've come here to aid you in this battle against End. You can relax, Andrew was just a form I assumed. It was a plan from Commander Stormbringer in order to catch the spy."

"Oh of course. We can talk about that plan later, but thank you very much for your aide, your majesty." Chiron bowed. Skylar widened her eyes at the use of such words and gestures. Worse was to come though, because just as Chiron rose, Reyna screamed "Ave Lady Skylar, Princess of the Universe, daughter of Lord Chaos and member of the Primordial Council."

"Ave" came the shout of all the campers in unison. And then everyone bowed down to her. She had a terrified expression on her face. And I was silently trying not to fall on the floor laughing. Well actually, most of my army's senior members who knew about her were.

"No! Rise! Stop it! Who told you to hail me? Just a 'welcome to camp Skylar' would have more than sufficed!"

"Uh, but... Your majesty, you love formalities don't you?" Chiron said a bit confused.

"What? No! I absolutely hate them!"

"Oh, we are so sorry we were actually told otherwise. " Chiron said, looking at me accusingly.

Oops, busted. I gave Skylar a wide grin in reply to her dagger stare.

"You," she growled. "I'll kill you today Stormy!"

"Oh no!" I said and ran for my life. I ran towards the forest with Skylar close on my heels. But she was a good runner, and she was angry. So she outran me, grabbed my shoulder turning me around and judo flipped me. "You made the last mistake of your life." She growled.

I gulped

"Uh hey, Sky... Welcome to camp!" Hey! She was pressing her dagger against my neck alright. I couldn't afford the time to think better lines!

"You did this for fun, didn't you? The whole camp bowing to me is fun? "

"Okay, okay now stop being so melodramatic. I know one of these days you're going to get even."

"That's damn right I will." Her lips twitched a bit like she was about to smile.

She calmed down and I got up, dusting my clothes." Let's go, the campers might be interested in knowing whether I survived the onslaught of her majesty crazy Princess or not." I smirked.

"Oh yeah. We should probably hurry up." She chuckled.

When we got back, there were all sorts of expressions in the crowd.

The army had an indifferent expression. They had seen many friendly fights between us. In fact, this didn't even qualify as one it was so quick and harmless. A few years ago when I'd pulled a prank on Sky the fight had lasted a full day. Almost the whole of the planet was in smithereens. The whole planet would've blown to bits had Elmont and Fritz not interrupted. We had a laugh about it the next day, so everything was cool. But we both rebuilt the planet even better than it was before as a gift to them There weren't any casualties obviously. Coming back to expressions, the campers looked confused. The immortal campers understood the plot and were looking a bit angry. Even Chiron had an irritating expression. "The Council's Army as well as The Army of Peace, go to your cabins. Campers, you can resume your guard duties and daily activities. Chiron, we can call a meeting right now at the big house to clear things."

" Yes, that would be good. Cabin counsellors and immortal campers, meeting at the big house in 30. Lady Skylar, you can take that time to freshen up a bit if you'd like. "

"Thank you, Chiron, and please, it's just Skylar. Despite what Commander stormy here had you believe, I hate formalities and titles."

"If you prefer. " Chiron said and left for the big house. I guess he needed time to get over James. He'd trained the guy for 6 years after all.

"Alright Sky, C'mon I'll take you to our cabin. Your room is ready."

"Sure Stormy."

"Can you avoid calling me that, at least in front of the campers maybe? You know I've made an image of me, and that name would so not go with it. "

"Sure, I'll try. But Stormbringer is a mouthful, and I can't call you Percy here so don't blame me."

"Okay. I think that's the best offer I can get from you anyways. Go rest. I'll call you when its time for the meeting."

"Okay."

-30 Minutes later, at the ping pong table-

Everyone had arrived. I and Sky were the last ones. Sky's chair was ready and placed beside mine. Once we had taken our seats, Chiron began

"We have a lot to discuss, but first I'd like to formally welcome Princess Skylar to the camp. Heartfelt gratitude for aiding us in the battle Princess. And for helping us catch the spy." He bowed a bit as a sign of thanks.

"Thank you, Chiron. The idea was Commander Stormbringer's though, so credit to him there."

"Yes, about that plan," Chiron said, looking at me with a hint of betrayal in his eyes.

"I appreciate what you did, but couldn't you have a least warned us about this beforehand? You know how much worried we were for you supposed son? So many lies you said, don't you think saying the one truth that Andrew is Skylar would have made things easier?"

"I'm sorry. I know I should have told you, but I didn't know who the spy was. So I couldn't take any chances."

"So you're saying you thought we could be spies?" Annabeth screeched angrily.

"No, I didn't. Don't take it personally. I just didn't want it to be unfair for the rest of the campers, so I decided to tell nobody." I replied calmly.

"Who gave you the right to judge us, to not trust us? Hey, you or one of your sidekicks could have been the spy for all we know! But we didn't devise a crazy plan secretly to find out!" Annabeth screamed angrily.

"Yeah exactly! Since the moment you've come we've respected your help and listened to you, you can't take us for granted now! You're just an outsider!" Jason shouted, equally angry with me.

"You may be a bigshot Mr Commander, but you haven't done enough for us to be getting the right to do what you've done!" Piper exclaimed.

This was going nowhere. They were really starting to annoy me.

"Hey enough now. Just so you know, even my army didn't know about this. Only I did. I didn't let anyone in on this, not even Elmont or Gregory. Only those from my home planet Celestio who weren't at camp and could have in no way passed this info knew." I said seriously.

"And anyway, would it have really mattered if I had actually done something for you then done what I did today?" I continued.

"What do you mean? Of course, if you had done something big for us we would have trusted you more!" Katie said.

"Really miss Gardener? Something big? Like fighting and winning 2 wars for you? Or jumping into Tartarus for one of you? Or maybe both? But that still wouldn't be big enough according to your.. ahh past records now would it? I said angrily. And left. Just like that. Not back to my cabin, no. Out of the camp. The spy problem was taken care of, and now that Skylar was here, I could leave camp for a while, clear my head a bit. I needed time. A lot of time. I'll apologize to Skylar for leaving her, but later.

I went to the one place my heart was aching to see, the one place that I was scared to visit, it had been so many years after all. But I went there. Nothing had changed, even after hundreds of years. Of course, my powers had something to do with it, a graveyard couldn't be the same for over 450 years. But I kept it the same. As a reminder. A reminder that no matter what I did, there were always three people I'd failed, 3 people I'd forgotten when I'd left. I was standing in front of the graves of Sally Jackson - my mom, Paul Blofis - my stepdad and Brianna Blofis - My sister.

 **(A/N: PLEASE REVIEW, CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS APPRECIATED.)**


	17. 16 - The One With The New Prophecy

_(Recap: I needed time. A lot of time. I'll apologize to Skylar for leaving her, but later. I went to the one place my heart was aching to see, the one place that I was scared to visit, it had been so many years after all. But I went there. Nothing had changed, even after hundreds of years. Of course, my powers had something to do with it, a graveyard couldn't be the same for over 450 years. But I kept it the same. As a reminder. A reminder that no matter what I did, there were always three people I'd failed, 3 people I'd forgotten when I left. I was standing in front of the graves of Sally Jackson - my mom, Paul Blofis - my stepdad and Brianna Jackson - My sister.)_

* * *

Ch. 16

* * *

Standing there, looking at my family's graves, I felt like I was a little kid again. My life is now full of crazy dangerous missions. And I love it. Of course, I'm happy to do it because I like helping people, but one of the other reasons is that this keeps me busy. It keeps my mind off the past. I still remember the day I came to know about this -

I was in the training arena with Commander Omega. He had a few years before retirement and wanted to teach me as much as he could. Just then a soldier ran up and announced

"Commander Omega, Lieutenant Stormbringer. Lord Chaos demands your presence immediately. Princess Skylar is already there."

Now even in my short time, I knew how kind Chaos was and how precisely the messengers passed on the orders from him. Never had he demanded something from anyone till now. So something is up. Something serious. We rushed to his cabin and entered without knocking, just in time to overhear the words "I know it's going to be difficult for him Skylar, but that's why I've called you and Omega both. He needs to know-"

"Know what Lord Chaos? " I interrupted. His face immediately morphed into a sad one, a look I'd never seen him give. I already had a bad feeling about this.

"Percy. Have a seat."

"What's the matter, sir? It's gotta do something with Earth, doesn't it?"

"I'm afraid yes Perseus. Have a seat."

Once I sat down, Skylar took my hand in hers and squeezed."

"Perseus. Your mom, stepdad and sister." And I understood.

I stopped breathing. My heartbeat escalated. I'd totally gone numb.

"No. Why me. WHY ME ALL THE FREAKING TIME! WHY CAN'T I HAVE A BREAK FOR A FEW YEARS!" I was so emotionally distraught that words stopped coming out of my mouth.

"H.. Ho... How?"

"Your house caught fire."

"What! Fire! How! "

"The mortal cops say that it was a gas cylinder burst, but the way the fire spread, so fast so viciously, we suspect there was foul play."

"My family never had any mortal enemies. They were much too kind to cause anyone any trouble. And as far as my dad's side of the world is concerned, I'm dead there as well, so couldn't have been the work of monsters."

"I know Percy. This has proven to be such a typical mortal case. Even if there was foul play our investigation team sent there have returned with no info on what could have actually happened. I'm sorry Percy."

I don't want to remember everything again, but those were the roughest days of my entire existence. And now staring at their graves, it just makes this more real.

The last time I was hear was 15 days after they were buried. To caste some magic on the graves and graveyard to always be the same, not change or get damaged or anything. Today, at camp, seeing all those not trusting me, those memories again came back to me. I'd let my family down. If only I'd been there, they may not have faced an untimely death.

My sister, Brianna. She was just 12 when this happened. I hadn't even told her I was alive. Sally and Paul couldn't know, but I had planned on telling Brianna. I wanted to be a big brother to her, at least as much as I could've with my job. I'd planned to reveal everything to her on her 16th birthday.

And she di-...The word constricted in my throat.

All my fault.

I failed them.

I failed my family.

I wanted to unravel this mystery behind their death. I always had this gut feeling, this nagging suspicion that something about their death was off. I was an emotional wreck for weeks before I could think straight enough to resume my command and run the city as well as the army. A few days later I found out something.

Something that made and to this day makes my blood boil. My intel reports, upon more scrutinized investigation of the scene, confirmed that it was a fire started by a monster. But that's not it, my parents weren't targets.

Yeah, that's right.

They could have been at the wrong place at the wrong time, but it was their own freaking home! So who could have been the target then? Maybe the monster mistook me to be alive? No, not exactly.

The monster or monsters (We don't know how many were there) were alerted due to strong _demigod_ scents in the house. So strong were the scents because the ones inside were an assortment of the most powerful demigods of the century.

Annabeth Chase, Jason Grace, Piper McLean, Nico di Angelo, Thalia Grace, Frank Zhang, Hazel Levesque, Leo Valdez, Katie Gardener, Will Solace. Yes, all of them.

At first, I thought they'd gone to actually help my mom out with my disappearance and to see Brianna. But boy, was I wrong. I soon found out why they'd gone there - to return my belongings from camp Half-Blood back.

They'd officially declared me dead.

So much power in one house, the monsters were petrified of attacking. So they chose the easy path. They burned down the house. My whole family was inside. And they were burnt alive.

The demigods had all run out of the house as soon as they realized the house was on fire. Yes, they did take Sally and Paul with them. But forgot my then 12-year-old sister who was peacefully asleep. Once Sally and Paul caught their breaths and looked around, confident that the demigods would not have forgotten Brianna, they paled.

Their paternal instincts kicked in and they ran inside the house to get her. But they were late, the entire foundation gave way and the building collapsed due to burns. With my family inside.

Poseidon realized what had happened. Never had I heard of a God trying to quell fire for the sake of a mortal's life.

But Poseidon tried. He broke the ancient laws and interfered in mortal affairs, but it was too late.

He returned with their charred and dead bodies. That day the whole earth experienced their biggest ever earthquake of a staggering 11.7 on Richter scale. I didn't know dad cared so much about her. That's one of the reasons it pains me to see him, knowing how much he cared about us and what I gave him in return.

I'm not going to return to camp today, the war can wait. I won't go anywhere. I just sat there and cried my heart out. Until my throat hurt until I was exhausted. I slept there.

* * *

When I woke up, it was a few minutes past dawn. I rose, dusted my clothes and adjusted them to look more decent than the night in the graveyard had made them. Just then, I saw a white mist form in front of me. An Iris message. Here? No. Nobody can know where I am. I immediately wiped my hand through the Mist before it even formed. And teleported directly to my cabin at camp half-blood.

"-just didn't connect Skylar, I don't know why. He must have seen the mist and swiped through it before it the message could connect." Elmont was saying.

"Why would he do that?"

"Maybe he didn't wanna be found?"

They hadn't noticed my presence yet.

"Hey, you called?" I interrupted.

They both turned and looked at me.

"Holy Chaos! Where were you? We were worried sick! And why is there so much dust and dirt in your hair and on your clothes?" Elmont asked wide-eyed once he saw the condition of my hair and clothes.

"It's nothing. Don't worry. Doesn't matter where I was, I'm here now aren't I? So tell me, why did you IM me?" I said, trying to avoid the topic of my whereabouts. Keyword, trying.

"No, tell us. What happened? " Skylar persisted.

"I went _there_ , alright!"

They both immediately understood and said "I'm sorry" in unison.

"It's okay, in fact, I'm sorry, for disappearing and then for my behavior right now. It's not your fault. It's _theirs_." I say bitterly.

Yeah, you must've wondered why I was so pissed at the campers. Now you know. It's their fault. Everything. Me caste away, my family's death, my dad's broken state. Even after all these years, even after trying so many times, I just couldn't get over it. Lord Chaos told me to forget about it. Forget, not forgive. And I did, for a very long time, until I was thrust back here. To relive all of it.

"It's okay Percy, you'll figure it out. We're here for you at all times." Skylar said reassuringly.

I smiled a bit at that "Of course you are, what would I do without you guys."

Sudden commotion interrupted our moment. When we went outside, the campers were all surrounding a girl in long red hair wearing a tank top. I couldn't see her, but I saw a hairbrush in her hand and the comfort and posture with which she was talking to the immortal campers. Rachel Dare had arrived. The Oracle, and the only living mortal who hadn't betrayed me.

"All right, scoot now. Let her rest, she just came after a long journey."Chiron said to the campers.

"Rachel, my dear. How have you been? I know you would want to rest, but before that, I'd like you to meet someone." He said smiling. You could tell from his face he was really glad Rachel came. That's when she turned so I could see her. She hadn't changed at all. Her features were the same. Seeing her hairbrush, I figured even her habits were the same. Hmm...wonder if she planned on attacking End with that...

"I've been good Chiron, thank you. And Annabeth filled me in on the war, I presume you want me to meet the Princess and the Commander?" She smiled.

"Yes. This is Princess Skylar, and this is Commander Stormbringer." he pointed at us in order.

"Hello Princess, hello Commander. I'm Rachel Dare, this camp's Oracle." she smiled a friendly smile.

"Pleased to meet you, Miss Dare," I smiled.

"Hello, Rachel," Skylar nodded in greeting.

We shook hands and decided to meet in the big house for a counselors meeting. She said she had some valuable information she needed to share.

In 20 minutes, we all had assembled at the table. I could see the hurt in the immortal campers' when they looked at me. My words from earlier had stung them. But that could wait. If Rachel said something was important, it most definitely couldn't wait. Once Chiron signaled for the meeting to begin, Rachel started straight away

"I have some moderate news, some bad news, and some very bad news. The moderate news is that I've had visions that the Titans have started stirring. All of them are waking, and Tartarus is helping the process. If all the titans and remaining giants along with Gaea and end attack, we stand no chance. Even with both the armies. And if other non-council Primordials like Pontus or Tartarus see the strength of our enemies, they might form an alliance with them. That would most certainly be the end of the world." She let it sink in.

"If this is the moderate news, do we even want to know the very bad news?" Connor said.

"Yes, no one's given you a choice Connor. Okay, now the bad news. There will soon be an attack at camp led by Kronos himself."

"Hey that's not so bad, we have two extra armies with us after all," Leo said.

"Yes, I think war is not the problem right now. There has to be a way to stop the rebirth of the Titans. Rachel, is there any that you know of? And what is this very bad news you were about to say?" Thalia said.

"That's actually the very bad news. There is a way, but it isn't going to be easy. There needs to be a quest. This quest will be around the time when Kronos attacks. The quest is going to be somewhere dark and dangerous, and the destination alone makes it very bad news. The attack by Kronos at around the same time makes it bad news, as our best would be indisposed at that moment, trying to not die mostly."

There was complete silence while we let that sink in. This was gonna be tough. Tougher than any battle we'd faced. For once, the enemies were actually using brains, dividing our forces.

"We have no choice. What needs to be done just needs to be done." I said firmly.

I think I have a very good idea of what place Rachel speaks about.

"Wait, if the Titans are growing power, they must be in Tartarus! You're not suggesting a quest there are you?" Travis said. But everyone realized that was exactly where the quest needed to go.

I could see the color drained from Nico and Annabeth's face. I'm sure mine resembled that look as well. The mask prevented them from seeing it, that's all. Even after all those years, Tartarus isn't a place you can get over. You simply learn to live with the horror story replaying in the back of your mind sometimes. Once Nico and Annabeth had composed themselves, Annabeth said

"Last time, I passed through the area where I saw them. The Titans, being reborn. Assuming they haven't changed their place of rebirth, I can lead a quest there. I would just need someone willing to come, I...I can't do it alone. She didn't even try to hide her nervousness now.

"I'll come with you. Besides you, there's only me who actually knows the place." Said Nico, his face resembling that of a victim bracing himself for the final blow of death.

"Not just you both, there have to be more. Five, to be precise." Rachel said.

The way she said it, everyone immediately understood. And Skylar voiced that "You have a prophecy already don't you, Rachel?"

She nodded, "Yes. Since a few weeks now. That's what forced me to come here and deliver the message in person."

"Let's hear it. This once, we're going to make an exception, due to the dangerous destination. We'll first hear the prophecy, then we'll see what to do and who should go." I said.

"Commander, I don't think that's how it works. It's against the ancient laws, we can't simply break them. We need volunteers first then we give them a prophecy." Chiron said, even though his expressions said he'd want nothing more than to do just what I'd said.

Before I could reply, Skylar interrupted "I Skylar Void, a member of the Primordial Council and daughter of Chaos, give you my full permission to break the law just this once and know the prophecy beforehand." Skylar announced.

"Happy now Chiron?" I smiled. He was beaming.

"Thank you, Princess, thank you very much!" He exclaimed, not ever expecting such a possibility.

Skylar just smiled and nodded to him.

"Rachel, now we can hear the prophecy. You have it memorized or written?" Reyna said.

"Memorised. It goes like this :

 _ **Five shall venture into eternal hell,**_  
 _ **One shall be lost forever, I foretell.**_  
 _ **Three of the Gods, two of Chaos must go east,**_  
 _ **To stop the rebirth guarded by the beast.**_  
 _ **The lost hero's past and present must unite,**_  
 _ **Or all will fall to the beast's might.**_  
 _ **The course of the war will be decided by all,**_  
 _ **But to only one must the beast fall."**_

Once that sunk in, everyone started speaking together. Chiron pounded his hoof on the floor to quiet down everyone.

"Relax, at least we know the prophecy now. So we can choose. It clearly mentions 3 half-bloods and 2 from the army must go." He tried to reassure everyone.

"Yeah, and that's it. It says nothing more!" Clarisse said, exasperated.

"Yeah, we also know the questers have to go east and that one is going to be lost during the journey," Leo said.

"That's kinda depressing to know," Piper said in a small voice.

"That is all we are absolutely certain of, we know nothing else. This is crazy." Connor said.

"True, this is going to be difficult. It seems there is another unknown monster that is actually guarding the place." Thalia said.

"And we have no clue who the hero is, let alone how to unite his past and present." Reyna piped in.

"And it seems like the beast is only going to fall to one of the questers, and as usual, we have no clue who that is gonna be," Annabeth said.

"So, all in all, your average prophecy?" Skylar shrugged.

"Yes actually, you could say that," Chiron tried to say as nonchalantly as possible, but it looked like the centaur had aged 25 years during the course of this discussion.

"Tonight at campfire I'll announce the prophecy and ask for volunteers."

"No, your campers are a good lot, but we need experience and skill of the highest level. Whatever happens, no camper can volunteer. Even in my army, I'm going to tell only Elmont and Gregory. And Fritz from the Council's Army. One of them can come, that would make the two of us from Chaos' side. I'll ask them while you decide on who to take. But I suggest you give everyone time to think about it."

"Okay, maybe you're right. They need time. You all do actually." Chiron said looking at me. So they'd told him of today's events.

We all left, pondering about this.

While I was leaving, Skylar stopped me and pulled me back "What do you think you mean by 'one of them can come?' You can't see me?"

"What?No Skylar! That's too dangerous! No way you're coming."

"I make my own decisions Percy." She whispered angrily before continuing.

"And I've decided to come with you. That's final." She stormed out huffing in anger.

Well, it looks like the 2 members of the Chaos side are fixed.

 **(A/N: DO REVIEW, CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS APPRECIATED**. **I READ ALL YOUR REVIEWS AND IT FEELS GOOD TO BE GETTING SOME SUPPORT. I WISH THERE WAS A WAY TO REPLY - SOME REVIEWERS ARE GUESTS AND SOME HAVE TURNED OFF PMs, SO CAN"T REALLY RESPOND TO SOME OF YOU. )**


	18. 17 - The One Where Phase One Begins

_(Recap: "Okay, maybe you're right. They need time. You all do actually." Chiron said, looking at me._

 _We all left, pondering about this._

 _While I was leaving, Skylar stopped me and pulled me back "What do you think you mean by 'one of them can come? You can't see me?"_

 _"What! No Skylar! That's too dangerous! No way you're coming."_

 _"I make my own decisions Percy." She whispered angrily._

 _"And I've decided to come with you. That's final." She stormed out huffing in anger._

 _Well, it looks like the two members of the Chaos side are fixed.)_

* * *

Ch. 17

* * *

The camp became aware of the quest that night during the campfire. Meanwhile, I could see the dread of having to go to Tartarus was churning in every immortal camper's mind. I couldn't blame them, my condition wasn't as bad as them only because I knew this time I was much stronger. And a part of me had changed, the part that was a scared little boy thrust into this world without a choice. I was no longer that. I was now an experienced commander of two large armies. I'd faced enough war and loss to mature on the way.

The campfire was still going and the campers were requesting Chiron to narrate him the prophecy once more. So he requested Rachel to narrate it once again

She began :

Five shall venture into eternal hell,

One shall be lost forever, I foretell.

Three of the Gods, two of Chaos must go east,

To stop the rebirth guarded by the beast.

The lost hero's past and present must unite,

Or all will fall to the beast's might.

The course of the war will be decided by all,

But to only one must the beast fall.

The demigods were all silent for a moment before all of them started speaking at the same time. The senior campers had a rough guess what the destination of this quest was gonna be. Meanwhile, my army was clueless, only Elmont was wide-eyed. Of course, he got it, the earth's his domain after all. Fritz was also looking confused, so I gestured for Elmont to assure him that I'd tell him everything once I myself knew everything. Chiron banged his hoof to retain silence. Once everyone shut up, he began

"Children, I know this is too much for you, but we have no choice. I'll tell you what we know about the prophecy."

"Yes, the questers have to go to Tartarus. They have to go east, so maybe an eastern entrance to Tartarus."

Eastern entrance! Why hadn't I thought of that? Last time we broke the chains of doors of death they must've reappeared somewhere in the east along with some new entrance.

"Something else we know is that instead of the regular three, this quest requires five for the journey. And there's one hero, whose past and present must unite." He continued.

"Who's this hero Chiron?" A girl from the Athena cabin said.

"We don't know that yet Llory. "

"Doesn't matter, whose this beast? I bet this hero is just another coward, allow me to go on this quest. I'll defeat this beast." a kid from the Ares kid said.

Well, cockiness is in their blood, isn't it? Poor other cabins. Surprisingly Clarisse was glaring at the kid. Well that's the hypocrisy of the topmost level, isn't it?

"You have any idea what you're saying? It's Tartarus. If you'd been paying attention in any of my classes Mike, you'd be peeing your pants or burying yourself in the safety of your bunker blankets right now. So shut up!" Chiron said a bit angrily.

Whoa. That's certainly a first. I never thought Chiron even had the ability to be angry let alone actually shout at someone. Once Mike sat down embarrassed, Chiron continued

"We don't know who the hero is, we don't know who or what kind of beast is involved. All we know is that there have to be 5 questers, a combination of three and two. 3 from camp and 2 from Lord Chaos' Army. They are supposed to go east. Where exactly in East or why? We don't know that either."

"I can help you with that." Nico suddenly appeared out of the shadows. Chiron had ordered him to go to the underworld and dig up whatever he could about this situation.

"Nico, tell me. What did you find in the underworld?"

"The prophecy says east because the entrance to Tartarus is located in the east."

Everyone was confused. So Nico answered

"We destroyed the chains holding the doors of death during the war with Gaea. So the doors disappeared. According to my information, they have reappeared in the east.

"Okay, where exactly in East? Hazel asked.

"Philadelphia. That's where the entrance is."

That seemed to satisfy everyone.

"Well, Philadelphia it is. The camp shall provide you with enough supplies and money to reach your destination. In fact, Argus will personally drive you up to the entrance." Chiron said.

"Okay, there's this one problem. We are so engrossed about this beast, we haven't discussed what happens after we destroy him. I believe Rachel said she had a way to stop the rebirth of the Titans?" I asked looking expectantly at Rachel.

"Yes, commander. I do have a way. And I already informed Nico about it when I came to know he was making a trip to the Underworld." She replied, nodding at Nico to talk about it.

Everyone was looking at him, so he looked a bit nervous. Wow. After so long, Nico di Angelo still hates attention. He cleared his throat and began

"We need to break the doors of death in and enter Tartarus, then kill this beast and place a protection amulet where the Titans are being reborn. This amulet will wade off Tartarus enough so that we don't have a problem for this war, and hopefully a few more centuries. At least that's what my dad says."

"So do you have the amulet with you right now? " Jason asked.

"Yes. Here. " he pulled out a deep back coloured shiny amulet with what looked like a gold chain from his pocket and held it out a bit high for everyone to see."

"Wait. All that's good, but if we open the doors of death again, won't the monsters come flooding out? And also the monsters here won't die! And we have a war during that time. We'll lose badly!" Calypso, who had her hand intertwined with Leo said.

"Which is why one extra person will go with them. Once they're inside, the doors will need to be closed from both sides. The extra person will ensure its done from the outside while the questers would do the same from inside."

During this entire conversation, I couldn't help but notice that Nico never said anything in the first or 3rd person. Meaning he never used 'we' or 'they'. So he is conflicted. I know him. He must feel it's his job, but he also feels he might not be ready.

"Wait. Then how will the questers get out?" Llory asked.

"

I'm afraid they'll have to figure out a way on their own." he replied.

That was depressing news. Not only were we going to Tartarus, but we would also be trapped there if we didn't find a way out.

"Okay. Now that we have everything we know on the table, it's time for volunteers. Who would like to go? And before you begin, I'll tell you only the immortal campers are allowed to go. As for the army, senior soldiers and/or who Commander Stormbringer deems fit and appropriate may be allowed." Chiron said.

"I'm in. And I'd like to lead this quest, as I have been there and have the first-hand experience about the place." Annabeth stated firmly.

"Yes. That makes sense. You are to chose two people, but I think you should let them decide."

"Yes. That's what I was thinking."

"I'll go." said a voice from behind.

Stood in shining armour, silver camouflage clothes and black bows with silver arrows were the hunters of Artemis, with Thalia in the lead. She was the one who had said it.

"Thalia, welcome to camp. Hunters, you too. But we were discussing a quest to-"

"Tartarus. I know all about the quest Chiron. Lady Artemis told us everything. Which is why I've come here. To volunteer. And these girls are here to provide aid in your upcoming battle of course. Queen Hylla says the Amazons will join a few days later."

We could see some relief evident on Chiron's face. We always knew both the armies of girls were gonna help, but knowing and actually welcoming them are very different.

"Oh. Okay. But Thalia, about that volunteering part, are you sure you don't wanna think it through with more time?" Chiron asked.

"I've had enough time since m'lady told me. And I'm sure I wanna do this."

"Well, then Annabeth. Seems like you have one companion on board. What about the other one? " he asked, looking towards the immortal campers. And within a second every immortal had said: "I'll go."

"Uhh, great but we need only one, so decide amongst yourselves who want to go," Chiron said.

"Okay listen. You all six have already gone on a quest to save the world. Nico, you as well have a been through hell and back during the two wars. You don't need to do this. Stay here, protect the camp. Let someone else take up these dangerous quests for once." Reyna said.

That was a mild surprise. I hadn't accounted for Reyna to even volunteer, let alone give a speech that could effectively shut up the others and convince them that she was right at the same time. But that is exactly what she seemed to have accomplished. The young semi - immortals were actually pondering over Reyna's words. They slowly nodded their heads. All were in agreement. Reyna had a winning smirk.

So Chiron announced "Well, it seems like we have all three camp side questers slots booked now. Going over to the Army side..." He drifted off looking towards me, waiting for me to continues.

I looked at Skylar first "Now you know everything. We may not have a way back. You are needed here Sky. Your dad, the council, everyone needs you. So think again."

"They need you too, Commander. But you're going, aren't you."

"Which is exactly why you might wanna reconsider. They might be hit hard if they lose both of us."

"They won't. We'll find a way, we'll make it back. No matter what. My decision stays." The finality with which she said, she might as well have banged a gavel.

"Okay, then. Chiron, I think you already know, but I'll announce it formally either way. Me and Princess Skylar will form the Chaos side. You have all five questers."

Everyone was murmuring about Skylar. They hadn't expected the Princess of the Universe to even fight alongside them let alone go to Tartarus for their sakes.

"So it seems Commander. I'll officially name them. ANNABETH CHASE, THALIA GRACE, REYNA AVIL RAMIREZ ARELLANO, COMMANDER STORMBRINGER, PRINCESS SKYLAR VOID. These 5 are to go to Tartarus to prevent the Titans from rising using the amulet given to us by Nico di Angelo."

There were again murmurs in the crowd. Some agreed with the questing party while others thought maybe Nico or Jason or Frank or someone else would have been pretty useful. It just occurred to me that I'd be questing with all girls. Great, so easy to understand girls so it's gonna be a walk in the park now. Note the sarcasm.

We were to leave the next day. So everyone went to their respective cabins to get some rest. Big days from tomorrow.

IN THE MORNING :

At just a few minutes past dawn, everyone had gathered at the dining Pavillion. Breakfast was over and we were wished good lucks and take cares. Clarisse was advising Annabeth to 'not just win, but beat the crap outta them and then win'. Classic Clarisse, I smiled internally. We were all set.

"Children, Commander, Skylar. Good luck. May the fates smile upon you. Nico will be taking you to the eastern entrance in Philadelphia and will be the one closing the doors from outside. Then he'll return. He'll hand over the amulet to you with instructions on how to use it and where to put it on your way. Any questions?"

We all shook our heads. Elmont, Gregory and Fritz wished me luck. I muttered in Elmont's ears "El, if something goes wrong, take charge permanently. You have my blessing. And tell the campers. About me. About Everything. They have a right to know. And tell them I've forgiven them a long time ago. Even Annabeth." he nodded. We bro-hugged. "You'll be alright, nothing's gonna go wrong."

I just nodded. We got on a van that Argus was gonna be driving. We were given our supplies in a satchel. Once the farewell was over, Argus revved the engine and pressed on the accelerator.

We reached Philadelphia within the hour, mainly due to Argus' maniac driving skills. He stopped near an under construction site.

"We're here, let's go, guys," Nico said and got out. Once we all got down and bid farewell to Argus, Nico led us into the apparently abandoned construction site. Through a door into a house. When we entered the house, he led us to a room where he put his hand on the wall and started muttering some enchantments. The wall slid open and we were met with cool air that could freeze our blood. It looked like a portal.

"Alright now listen. This door is a special favour from Thanatos. Its a one-way door to hell and the enchantments I used will keep the wall open till you snap the chains on the opposite side. Once you do that, you have absolutely no way of coming back, at least no way that we know of. If you're having second thoughts, now would be the time to back out. I don't mind taking your place."

When no one said anything, he continued "Good luck. May the fates be with you." We nodded and went through the portal thingy.

My first thought when I entered was 'It's so dark in here, darker than last time.'. My second thought was 'Feels like there's a lake around here somewhere.', but I said neither of those things, mainly because I was busy finding these chains to snap them so that no random wonderer tried the travel portal and ended up literally in hell.

"Are these the chains?" Reyna said looking at some chains. They resembled the chains we had cut during our first trip here. I remembered those two heroes that died for us that day. Iapetus a.k.a. Bob and Damasen. Annabeth had similar expressions so I could tell she was thinking about the same.

"They look like it, and besides these are the only chains here, so I say we cut them," Reyna said.

Annabeth swiped her sword and quickly cut off the chains. The light from the door faded, confirming that the doors had closed.

"We're officially trapped now. So Annabeth, lead the way. You can know this place?" Skylar asked.

"I don't think so. We need to get out of here somewhere more open. I think this is an entry if some sorts."

The Sulphurous air was starting to affect us. Everyone began coughing mildly.

"We should get out of here. I have a bad feeling about this place." I said.

"Yeah. Let's go. We move forward, we need to drink flames. To survive. "

"Flames? You mean the river-"

"Well well well, what do we have here!"

That froze us in our tracks. We were still weak due to the air here, and we couldn't fight off many monsters before drinking the flames. We certainly weren't ready for a titan.

"Bob," Annabeth said, shocked and with a broken voice.

"Bob! You're alive!" She exclaimed.

"I'm not Bob, I'm Iapetus. And yes I'm alive, but you're not gonna be once I'm through with you." He growled, brandishing what looked like a scythe.

Uhh... Oops.

 **(A/N: REVIEW. PRAISE, CRITICIZE, DISCUSS - WHATEVER YOU WISH.)**


	19. 18-The One Where They Make A New Friend

_(Recap: "Yeah. Let's go. We move forward, we need to drink flames. To survive. "_

 _"Flames? You mean the river-"_

 _"Well well well, what do we have here!"_

 _That voice froze us in our tracks. We were still weak due to the air here, and we couldn't fight off many monsters before drinking the flames. We certainly weren't ready for a titan._

 _"Bob," Annabeth said, shocked and with a broken voice._

 _"Bob! You're alive!" She exclaimed._

 _"I'm not Bob, I'm Iapetus. And yes I'm alive, but you're not gonna be once I'm through with you." He growled, brandishing what looked like a scythe._

 _Uhh... Oops.)_

* * *

Ch. 18

* * *

Everyone drew out their weapons. I had my twin blades, one of them the modified version of riptide and the other the temporal sword - Skylar's gift. Skylar had an ugly looking black sword that had pointy teeth like scales protruding out of the main body.

Reyna had a golden glowing sword, Thalia had notched a silver arrow in her bow, but her shield Aegis was strapped against her back along with her celestial bronze spatha. Only Annabeth seemed so dazed by the titan's appearance that she'd gone numb. She just kept staring at the Titan muttering 'bob you're alive'. She even said 'he would've been so glad to see you alive'. That one hit close.

We all knew she was referring to me, but they didn't know I was there. True, I would've been glad to see him, but I had taken stock of the situation. He may have helped us, but upon close observation, I could see he was Iapetus, not Bob. His expressions, his regal stance of a proud titan, his furrowed brows, his fixated glare on Thalia Grace, everything. This wasn't the Titan I and Annabeth had treaded through Tartarus with. This was the titan that me, Thalia and Nico had defeated and thrown into the Lethe. He was back - apparently with a bloodlust and vengeance, and so were his memories.

That explained why he glared at Thalia.

If he'd known about me though, I'm sure it would've been much worse.

But I didn't have much time to contemplate my next move, because Iapetus started the attack. He lunged at Thalia with blinding speed. Thalia, of course, being a hunter with centuries of experience was as nimble as Arion on her feet.

Hmm, come to think of that, Arion was supposed to be immortal as well, but didn't see him anywhere with Hazel.

Huh. Stupid ADHD, making me think of a super swearing horse during a life and death situation.

Meanwhile, the fight was on, and Thalia had just been attacked.

She raised her bow to block the scythe and tried to lodge her arrow into Iapetus' leg. Keyword being tried. Iapetus saw the move coming and simply put his armoured arm in between to deflect the arrow. The force broke the arrow and was enough to send Thalia stumbling back a few steps. Meanwhile, Annabeth was out of her daze and had her drakon skin sword out.

Iapetus was just about to strike Thalia when Annabeth came in between and met his scythe mid-strike to deflect it with her sword and kick Iapetus in the gut. The kick was hard enough to knock Iapetus off balance. Wow. These girls have gotten so much stronger and agile than I remembered them. Reyna stabbed her sword through Iapetus' legs and he roared in pain.

Meanwhile, Thalia had recovered. As soon as Iapetus tried to get up, he stumbled on his stabbed leg and could rise only one leg, leaving him in a one-legged kneeled down position. Thalia kicked his jaw hard enough to deliver a knockdown blow, so he was again on the ground. The moment Iapetus recovered and got up, the three girls attacked the titan in perfect unison, slashing and stabbing different parts of his body and made quick work of him.

Meanwhile, I and Skylar both could only watch in fascination. Soon Iapetus was defeated, and all that was left of him was some golden dust, that was already disappearing.

"You've done this before haven't you?"

Skylar asked them.

"If by this you mean killing Iapetus then no, but yeah we've worked together before," Thalia said, not even breaking a sweat let alone panting. Wow. Looks like the Sulphurous air hasn't had a high intoxicating effect yet. Skylar just nodded, a bit impressed at the show of teamwork.

"Before any more monsters or titans find us, we need to get going. Like Annabeth was saying, we need to drink fire. The river Phlegethon."

Thalia said. We all nodded, but Reyna asked the question probably on everyone's mind.

"How do we find it?"

"I think I can sense it. I'll lead the way, follow close behind." I said.

"You can feel it? Are you. A son of Poseidon?" Annabeth asked.

Damn that Athena's brain.

"I'm a man of many powers Annabeth, yes water is one of mine, but it's also one of the many. It doesn't make me a son of Poseidon just like having thunder powers doesn't make me a son of Zeus." I decided to be a bit indirect in the answer. No lies, no truth. I'm not a son of Poseidon because I have water powers, I have water powers because I'm his son. So indirect.

"Oh. Okay, then. Lead the way." She said a bit dejectedly. At what, I had to no idea.

I just started going with the feeling in my gut. Skylar was following close behind me, while Annabeth, Reyna and Thalia were a few paces behind, with Thalia glancing behind every once in a while to make sure we weren't being followed or surprise attacked from behind. "I'm already feeling out of place here you know, seeing their friendship and teamwork. They don't trust us as much as they should on a quest as dangerous as this." Sky whispered to me.

"I know Sky. Trust me, even I'm feeling a bit out of place. And it eats me that I can't do anything about it. We'll just have to be patient and let time do the trick with those trust issues I guess. " I whispered back. She just nodded.

A few minutes later I could feel something familiar in the air. The smell, the temperature, the moisture, the humidity, everything. We had either passed this place last trip or were very close to Phlegethon.

"We've been here before," Annabeth said.

"No. I think we'd have realized if we revisited such a ghastly place. I for one am pretty sure I've never seen this place. Thalia said.

"Yes, Annabeth. Don't worry, we're not going in circles."

"I meant me and Percy had been here before. This is familiar territory. Either we're very close or we've passed through this place the last time we were here." She said, her voice breaking slightly when she said my name. "I can't say about your last trip, but yes we are close to a river," I said.

A few minutes later we reached our destination. The river Phlegethon.

"We have to...drink this?" Reyna asked with nervousness apparent in her voice.

"If you wanna stay alive in this hellhole then yes you'll have to," Annabeth said.

"Is it safe? I mean its fire after all!" Thalia said a bit nervously.

"We won't burn while taking it in our hands to drink it if that's what you mean," I assured her.

Soon enough we'd drank the fire. And not burnt, to everyone's relief.

"Okay now, where are we supposed to go to? Annabeth you remember where you saw those titans the last time?"

"I do. But there's a major problem. We have two very big obstacles on our way." She said, a tinge of fear apparent in her voice. When we all looked at her questioningly, she continued

"Nyx's mansion. We'll encounter her and her children during our journey. And to say that they don't like us would be an understatement. Even if we miraculously got out of there alive, we'd have a far bigger problem then that. The arai." She visibly shivered when she said arai. I couldn't blame her. Most of the nightmares I'd had about this place were either the meeting with Tartarus or the encounter with those arai. Even I flinched when I remembered that. So much so that Skylar grabbed my hand and squeezed it to calm me down. Thalia did the same to Annabeth. But my reactions couldn't escape their experienced observations.

"You seem to have a history with these arai things commander. They roam freely on the upper universe somewhere? On another planet or something?" Reyna asked, scrutinizing me.

"No Preator. These creatures are found only in the depths of Tartarus. As to my history, I have a history, that is correct. I'd rather not talk about it right now, at least while we're here if you don't mind." I said. Not that I could tell them either way, that would practically give away my identity.

"Yeah well, even if I did mind, it's not like you tell us everything. Heck, you don't tell us anything. So I'm not surprised in the least." She said, staring at me like I'd broken her sword.

"Look, Reyna, if this is about that spy problem, I swear I just hid it to make it fair to everyone. My intent was never to hide it because I distrusted you all. I wouldn't even be here if I didn't trust you." I said, trying to make her trust me. "It's not just that commander. You never seem to trust any camper. You never hang out with us even when we're supposed to be fighting a war side by side." She said a bit frustrated. I was about to retaliate when Thalia chipped in "Yeah all I've seen since I came is you act serious all the time. You seem to hold yourself in such high esteem and above ourselves. And you don't give us explanations for anything. You just expect us to take your word for it." This time I had no answer. Turned out I didn't need one because they weren't done yet. Annabeth, apparently feeling left out, added "We don't even know what kind of a person you are. Heck, we don't even know what you look like! You just came walking one day with an army and now you act like you're a God and can do anything!"

Come to think of it, they actually had a point. I was so engrossed in hiding my identity I took all of their trust for granted.

"Okay. Yes, I accept full responsibility for whatever you said. I did all that, and I'm truly sorry. You'll understand one day why I did what I did, but until then I promise I'll avoid hiding things from you as much as I can. I'll start right now in fact. I'll tell you something I should have told you a long time ago. I've been here before."

I expected either complete silence till they let it sink in then an outburst or an immediate outburst. But to my surprise, it never came! Instead of being angry, the girls just rolled their eyes at me.

"Wh.. What? You think I'm lying?"

"Of course not. But we figured this one out the moment we saw you leading us to the river."

"But I said I could feel the river, and that was true!"

"We're not talking about the path you led us through. We're talking about your eye expressions and your body language. When you shivered at Annabeth's mention of the Arai you just confirmed it for us."

"Oh." I felt dumb. I looked at Skylar for support but she looked a bit irritated.

"As much as I'd love to praise you girls for playing flawless Sherlocks, I think this quest is kind of a time-bound mission. We should hurry up. We can have this conversation later."

We all nodded. I hadn't completely recovered but decided to put it at the back of my mind. We all headed towards where Nyx's mansion was supposed to be. We had our weapons out, but we all hoped it wouldn't boil down to a fight. Soon enough we reached our dreaded destination. We realized that because the terrain started getting much darker and colder than from where we'd come.

We could barely see a thing.

"Where is she? Last time we were here some of her children were here as well." Annabeth said.

"Children? You mean there are kids here? Hey, then they must be friendly! If we get them to like us maybe Nyx will let us go!" Thalia suggested.

"Trust me, even if miraculously Nyx lets us go, their children won't. They're anything but friendly." Annabeth said.

"Why thank you young godling! We always love when people praise us, don't we my brothers and sisters?" came a cold voice from somewhere to our left. Then came the muttering and whispers of many voices, but the sickening thing was all of them were discussing of various and very painful ways to torture and kill us. We were clearly outnumbered. We couldn't fight off all of them, this was their own domain after all. To add to all that there was Nyx herself. A primordial in her own domain. No, if it came to a fight I was certain it would end badly for us. I needed another approach altogether. I passed on this message to the four girls through mind message. Skylar nodded, but the other girls were a bit taken off guard about me suddenly talking inside their heads. Nevertheless, they recovered and nodded. I could already see Annabeth had that 'thinking deeply' look, the one with her signature frown and furrowed eyebrows. But it was Skylar who spoke first. "Nyx! Show yourself, or are you too scared to face us?"

To our surprise, no Nyx came. Instead, her children started laughing loudly at us.

"Ya'll finally went insane living in the dark for too long?" Thalia asked.

"You dare not call us insane you stupid huntress. It's our mother who's gone insane. But we took care of that."Now that my eyes had adjusted to the darkness, I could see that the speaker was a boy who looked around my age. He was smirking evilly.

"Took care? What do you mean took care? Where is Nyx?"

He smiled cruelly at us, snapped his fingers and suddenly we were engulfed in a dim light. The light made us realize that we were in some sort of a dungeon. That, however, wasn't what gobsmacked us. What we saw in front of us did. There was a huge cage right in front of us. I realized it was made up of temporal steel. Virtually unbreakable. The shock though was the person sitting inside the cage. Nyx. The power emanating from her was also not as much as we'd expect from a primordial deity.

"What! What is the meaning of this?" Reyna asked looking at the children of Nyx. They just faux smiled at us.

"Oh well, mommy here didn't think end's side would be a good side. Something about 'not making the same mistakes twice' or something. But we wanted to be with the winning side, so we decided to give dear little mom a break! Isn't it great!" One of the girls said.

"You're all crazy. We'll show you who the winning side is." Skylar growled.

And we did the natural thing demigods do when they're outnumbered and stand almost no chance of winning. We drew our weapons and charged. They charged back. There were eight of them. I and Skylar took five of them while the three girls had one for each of themselves. Fighting with our backs to each other just like I and Annabeth used to, we defeated them. It took us a little longer than the girls, but we did it. They were Nyx's children, but staying here in the dark didn't give them much time or opportunities to train themselves. When Skylar stabbed the last one and he faded, we turned to the girls to make sure they were alright. They just stared at us. "What? Is there something on my face?"

"How long have you two been fighting together?" Reyna asked.

"Centuries. Why?"

"That explains it. Your teamwork is flawless. Good job there."

"Yeah good job killing my children, all of you." came Nyx's bitter voice from her cage.

We'd totally forgotten about the imprisoned primordial.

"Nyx. I'll be pretty straightforward. On whose side are you?"

"Yours of course! Why else do you think I'm rotting in this cage?" she snapped.

"Even after we killed your children?". "They were not my children! They were a disgrace to my legacy! And like I said, I learn from my mistakes. I'm not going to support end in this one."

"We can't take your word for it, I'm sorry but you don't exactly have the reputation of being trustworthy. We'd, however, like to give you a chance." Skylar told her in a matter-of-fact tone. "I'm willing to take that chance your majesty! Just let me prove myself to you!

"Swear on the Styx that you're on our side, swear that if we let you out of here you won't attack us or try to exact revenge on any of us. Then perhaps we can get you out of here." Skylar put forth the condition.

"I swear to abide by the terms just as you described them. But in case you haven't realized, this cage is temporal steel, unbreakable. I don't think I'm ever getting out of here." She said sadly.

"I can take care of that for you Nyx. But first, you must swear that you'll never tell anyone what you're about to witness." I said seriously.

Once she swore, I concentrated and my palm lit up. Purple flames started dancing on them. Everyone except Skylar looked awestruck. I melted the temporal steel cage using the fire. Eventually, I created a big enough hole for Nyx to get out. But even Nyx looked too taken aback to move. I had to shake her out of her reverie.

"That's hellfire. She whispered as if talking to herself. Meanwhile, the three girls were also letting it sink in. Realization seemed to dawn on their faces. Annabeth was first to speak "You're Assassin hellfire." She breathed. "You're the Commander of the Council's Army! You're the one Fritz reports to!" Reyna said.

"Yes. I am all of that. Sorry for not telling you earlier, but it was for your own safety."

"We understand. It's okay." Reyna said.

Once Nyx was out of the cage, she said "Thank you. You've done me a favour and I owe you one now."

"Yeah well, you could repay us by helping us in this journey if you can," Annabeth said.

"Annabeth Chase. So you're immortal now huh. Where's your boyfriend? He dead?" She said to Annabeth. It hit a sore spot for Annabeth. Her muscles tightened and she gripped her sword so tightly her knuckles white.

"That's none of your business Nyx. Just tell us if you can help us." She responded with clenched teeth.

"Well, I can't help you on your journey within this place, but I can give you these." She said, handing me 5 black pearls.

"What are they?"

"They're your getaway out of here. Crush them and you'll be transported directly out of Tartarus. I know you don't have a way back, so this saves all of your lives if you succeed. Also, take this wool." She produced a wool roll out of thin air and handed it to me. "What's this for? You want us to sew when we get bored?" I asked a bit puzzled. She rolled her eyes and said "No. This will lead you to the Titans. You will face many monsters on the way, but not the ones you most dread."

"Ones we most dread? Wait you mean we won't encounter any-"

"arai yes. You won't. Now go, you don't have much time, neither do I. I'll go to my realm in Celestio and make amends with Chaos and my husband Erebus.

"That's very helpful. Thank you. Also, Nyx before you leave can you tell us what is this beast guarding the titans?"

"Why of course I can. But I thought you'd have figured out by now. End couldn't get the most powerful monster to do his bidding because you ride him. So he went for the second best." She said and left.

Reyna, Thalia and Annabeth looked confused but I and Skylar had pale faces. When they looked at us confused we said "The Gypsican dragon. The most violent and feared of the predators in the universe. I told you about Filos, didn't I? Well just imagine a dragon almost that powerful but million times more dangerous and voracious than him. You'll get a fair idea." They nervously gulped.

 **(A/ N: REVIEW AND SHARE YOUR VIEWS. LIKE ALWAYS CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS APPRECIATED.)**


	20. 19 - The One With The Invincible Dragon

_(Recap: Why of course I can. But I thought you have figured out by now. End couldn't get the most powerful monster to do his bidding because you ride him. So he went for the second best." She said and left._

 _Reyna, Thalia and Annabeth looked confused but I and Skylar had pale faces. When they looked at us confused we said "The gypsican dragon. The most violent and feared of the predators in the universe. I told you about Filos, didn't I? Well just imagine a dragon almost that powerful but million times more dangerous and voracious than him. You'll get a fair idea." They nervously gulped.)_

* * *

Ch. 19

* * *

Once Nyx disappeared, I looked back at everyone. "She was a great help, despite her nature. But the only thing we forgot to make her swear on was the truth about her so-called gifts." I said, suddenly realizing how stupid we were.

"So you're just gonna throw away this wool and the pearls?" Annabeth asked me.

"I don't know. Let's take a vote. Trust her or not. We'll go with the majority."

"Sounds fair. All in favour of using Nyx's gifts raise your hands, palms facing me and those not in favour raise your hands with your fists closed. Raise hands up to shoulder level everyone." Skylar announced.

The voting though, seemed unnecessary after the actual event because it turned out everyone was in favour of using those gifts. Everyone was willing to bet on Nyx if it meant no arai and a chance to escape.

"Annabeth. I thought you hated Nyx?" Reyna asked, seemingly surprised at her friend's vote.

"I still do, but the arai scare me more than her. Any chance I won't have to encounter them again and I'll grab it."Annabeth said. Reyna nodded at that logical explanation.

"Fair enough, Chase. Stormy, drop the wool and let it lead the way. Follow it, Thalia can bring up the rear, guard us from behind." Skylar said.

"Aye aye captain," I said, a bit irritated at the use of that nickname again.

The wool suddenly started rolling. In the same direction that we'd come from.

"At least the way out is not through this scary dungeon. Let's go." I said.

The wool took turns through various places, more sulphurous and less sulphurous, dark and light, scary looking and well, more scary looking. But surprisingly we'd encountered so fewer monsters on our way that usually only two of us would be enough to defeat the group. Nyx had indeed helped us a lot. We'd been going on since almost about two hours, at least that's what I thought. Time is different in Tartarus. And roughly every fifteen minutes or so and there would be a small group of hippocampi or empousai or Cyclops or some or the other such creatures waiting to be monster dust. This became so frequent that we began an unspoken method of fighting. One of us would hold the wool so it wouldn't go wandering and we wouldn't lose it while also making sure there was no aerial threat, two of us would watch the rear for an ambush while the remaining two would battle the monsters. We'd take turns, exchanging roles after each fight. Suddenly, the wool came to an abrupt halt and caught fire.

"Hey what's the matter? Why'd it catch fire?" Reyna asked looking at me and Skylar like we'd have an answer.

"Well I don't know, I didn't make it! Maybe we've reached where it meant to take us to so it burnt off." I speculated, confused myself.

"

Or maybe there's some kind of terrain difference here, like different air or something that made it combust." Skylar said.

"So why aren't we burning?" Thalia said.

"You sound disappointed that we aren't," Reyna noted. Thalia just ignored that comment.

"That thing was made by Nyx herself, and even though we're calling it wool we all know it isn't exactly wool, it just looks similar. So maybe Hellfire's right and we've reached our destination, or this thing reacted with something here and caught fire." Annabeth said.

"Hey who's hellfire now?" Reyna asked confused.

"Uh... Me? You don't remember? The fire, my palms, that sheishkebabed cage, the-"

"Oh shut it, I remember. We're just not used to people calling you hellfire. So I got a little confused." Reyna said.

"Are you really the assassin hellfire? The one whose stories we've heard?" Annabeth asked, looking at me sceptically.

"Of course I am, why you don't believe me?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"If we go by the stories we've heard, you don't look like much. No offence, of course."

"None taken. As to why I don't look or behave like hellfire, the stories you've heard would make you believe that I'm a deadly assassin, but that's my part-time job. What I am in front of you and the army is mostly who I am. I act like hellfire only under two circumstances. One, when it's my job and I have a specific target and two when I'm very angry." I explained.

"Don't worry, he doesn't have a split personality, he's usually a bit stupid," Skylar said.

"Oh, we figured it out ages ago," Reyna said while all the girls chuckled.

"Hey! I thought you were on my side Sky!" I complained. She just rolled her eyes.

"Okay. Now if you girls are done chuckling and making jokes at my expense, we have a job to do." I said frowning a bit.

"So what are we supposed to do now?" Thalia asked no one in particular.

"I think I can tell the way from here. This seems like a known territory." Annabeth said, scanning the area.

"Lead the way," Skylar said. Turned out she didn't have to lead much, because in a few minutes we saw a dungeon/cave like thing.

"That's it. That's where we saw the Titans last time. If there's any beast or that monster everyone's so scared shitless about, it has to be in there." Annabeth said, stopping a few feet away from the entrance."

"What should we do?" Reyna said looking at me and Skylar simultaneously.

"You think we know about this beast? We know is that such a creature exists. We know it's a merciless, ruthless killer, known to painfully torture its prey and leave it to die." I said. The three girls shivered at that, but Skylar had more to add.

"And we've heard stories. Unpleasant stories. All we know is that it's a dragon from a planet called gypsia, hence the name gypsian dragon. Nobody knows exactly how it looks like except that it's a dragon because no one has survived long enough to pass that on after laying their eyes on the creature." She finished. We all shuddered nervously.

"So in a nutshell, all we know is that it's basically an ugly dangerous beast that likes to torture its victims," Annabeth said.

"That aptly sums it up." Skylar nodded.

Just then, the ground beneath us started shaking. It was difficult to maintain balance, but we managed somehow. There was a loud roar and some sort of voice, may be caused by the beast's walking. "What's happening?" Skylar screamed. "Probably the gypsian dragon walking," I shouted back over the noise.

"Walking? This looks more like a friggin' horror movie with enhanced sound effects!" Thalia screamed.

In a few seconds, the shaking, as well as the noise, stopped.

"The noise came from there. That's where we're supposed to go."

I said, pointing to the area from where the voice had come. It looked sort of like a dungeon or a dark alleyway or something.

"The place looks dangerous. So yeah, that has to be where we should be headed. Let's go." Skylar said.

The dungeon was dark, but as we walked further we could see some light. It looked like the light was emanating from.. beds in front of us.

They were beds alright. And upon walking a bit further we realized the beds had what you could call a demigod's nightmare. Each bed for one titan. And the light came from within them, signalling Tartarus was indeed helping them in their rebirth process.

Just then we heard a growl from behind us. When we turned around we saw the infamous 'beast' that we were supposed to defeat, and everyone had different expressions. Thalia may have seen many monsters as a hunter, but standing there with her mouth agape I could tell she'd be seen nothing that could rival this. Annabeth was taking stock of the situation and so were me and Skylar, but Reyna seemed lost in staring at the dragon in horrid fascination. The beast that stood in front of us was a 10 feet scaly dragon. Its arms were at least 4 feet, and he had scales all over his body that glowed. I didn't understand the glow, but when Skylar's expressions landed there, she turned mild pale and muttered "shit". The dragon's expressions looked voracious and demeanour extremely hostile. It had what looked like a celestial bronze spear, at least 13 feet long. Yeah, his spear was longer than he was. The gypsian dragon, I gulped nervously. Even with five of us, this was gonna be a heck of a fight if we didn't use caution and let our guard down.

While we were busy assessing the dragon, it was growing grumpier and less patient by the minute. I could see it tense a bit, and I realized it was gonna pounce soon enough in the direction where Thalia stood.

"Thalia brace yourself or get outta there!" I shouted desperately.

Thalia decided to roll and dodge rather than block. She was almost on time. On time because she did manage to get out of harm's way in time, almost because the dragon got a hit at her leg in the process.

"Ahh." She winced in pain and lost her balance. Skylar got there just in time to catch her before she fell down and hit her head. She steadied Thalia and said to all of us "Avoid those scales at all costs. No time to explain further. This is gonna be a seriously difficult fight, be at your best." So that's why she looked pale. The temporal steel scales. The dragon attacked again, this time it chose Skylar as it's target. But she was firm in her defence. She deflected the attack and even tried for a counter. She deflected the spear and proceeded to slash across the dragon's legs, but it proved to be too fast for something so gigantic. It not only dodged that slash it kicked Skylar square in the chest and sent her reeling back and hitting the wall.

"Skylar!" I screamed and rushed to her side.

"Sky. Are you alright?" I asked.

"I'm fine, just a bit dazed. Go help them. I'll be fine. Join you in a few." She groaned. Her head was bleeding from the impact with the wall, but she was an immortal so such wounds would heal fast. Meanwhile, the three remaining girls with Thalia recovered after a dose of ambrosia and nectar were fighting off the dragon, but it looked more like it was toying with them. Just a few minutes in the battle and they were already pushed on the defensive. They'd already received cuts here and there, but fortunately nothing major. I charged along with them. Momentarily my surprise attack had us at an advantageous position, but it was all lost too soon as the dragon was pretty fast and adaptive. Soon enough we were all on the defensive. It was the same all over again when Skylar joined the fight on recovering. We were all pushed to defending. Duck, roll, parry, try to attack and brace yourself for a powerful counter-attack.

We were all experienced or born leaders here. Reyna a preator, Annabeth the unspoken leader of the camp and leader of multiple quests, Thalia the lieutenant of Artemis, me the commander of so many armies and Skylar a born leader of the universe. So it didn't take us all long enough to figure out what we needed to do. As hard as the decision was, I voiced it loudly "We need a plan or we won't make it. Retreat to the entrance from where we came!" Everyone was reluctant to back off, but eventually, we started backing off realizing there wasn't really much of a choice. The creature was toying with us. We'd suffered multiple cuts and bruises merely trying to defend ourselves, while the dragon was just enjoying. That's what it's plan was. Cut us and bruise us beyond repair, then leave us to die. But it realized we were trying to get back off and it came a bit harder on us.

"Wise decision, given the circumstances. Keep backing off a few more feet and that low ceiling behind us won't allow this huge creature to pass through. Let's keep going." Skylar said. Just as she finished speaking, and just as we almost reached the low ceiling to escape the dragon, it realized our escape attempt would be a success and made a last desperate swipe at us with its scaly long arms. Directly at Skylar, who was looking behind her to make sure we were alright. If the scales managed to hit her it could cause some major damage, might even prove fatal. So my brain made a split second decision. Within the moment I grabbed Sky with my left hand, took out riptide with my right and got in between her and the dragon, pushing her behind me. I tried to block the attack with my sword, but the power of the beast proved too much for me to handle. The sword slipped out of my hand and its scales left a huge slash on my stomach. It was painful, but the worrying part came when I took a look at it. The wounded area, instead of beginning to heal like it usually does, was becoming green. "Goddamn stupid invincible dragon and those bloody temporal steel scales." I thought, trying hard not to wince. Meanwhile, Skylar had dramatically screamed "Hellfire!" and rushed to help me, pulling me behind before I could be attacked again. In an impressive show of strength, she hoisted me up on her shoulders and sprinted with me out of harm's way while the other girls got the dragon preoccupied. One by one even they managed to evade all the attacks and come out. Once out of that dungeon, Skylar started examining my wound, turning pale on seeing the colour. "Holy Hemera. This looks bad. Maybe it'll take a lot of time to heal." She said, with a concern laced tone, while the other girls simply nodded like bobbleheads, not knowing what to do or say. Annabeth seemed irritated. Of course, she would be, she hated not knowing. "Those scales got me Sky. We can only wait for the wound to automatically start healing. Then perhaps we can fathom how long till I'm fine." Her eyes widened and her lips parted once she realized the reason for the green colour.

"No. No no no. What did you do? WHAT DID YOU DO!" She exclaimed almost in tears.

"C'mon Sky, don't worry, it'll be alright I'm sure. Besides, I didn't do anything wrong. You'd have done the same for me."

"But you knew it was the scales! It's a freakin' fatal blow!"

"Wait, what? Fatal? I thought he was immortal? " Reyna said with worry evident in her voice, while Thalia and Annabeth had similar expressions.

"No, only I'm fully immortal. He is only partly immortal and can die in battles like you all. But it doesn't matter since he got hit by those scales. They're made of temporal steel, a metal that can be deadly to even immortals." Skylar explained.

The girls just stared at her numb, maybe waiting for her to say it was a joke. But no such relief came.

"What do we do now. Is there a medicine or something for this metal's injury?" Annabeth asked.

"No there isn't. The only way is through sheer will. But it's possible. Our ex-commander Omega, he was in a similar situation, but he survived. It depends from person to person." Skylar spoke softly, trying hard not to sob.

"What can we do to help?" Reyna asked with genuine worry.

"No one except him can do anything, Reyna. All we can do is wait and watch." She said gloomily.

A tear trickled down her cheek. It took some effort, but I raised my hand a bit and wiped that tear off her cheek, brushing her cheek in affection at the same time.

"It's gonna be okay Sky. Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere." I croaked. That was a mistake. Once she heard my voice and the pain in it, she started openly crying. I'd never seen Sky have such emotion, or show so much vulnerability. It touched me that she felt so much for me. I was in pain, but somehow seeing her that way was more painful. And knowing that I was helpless to stop it more so-so. But unfortunately, all I could do was try and console her, which wasn't exactly an advisable idea if you had a chance of dying soon. Meanwhile, even Thalia, Reyna and Annabeth had very concerned expressions. I realized how true they were when they said they'd blindly trusted me. That was unfair. So I decided to make it fair. I looked at Skylar.

"You want to tell them." She stated, not needing me to tell her anything.

"I think it's time. I've kept it long enough. Sometimes it has to come out, so better I say it while I'm alive. We don't know what's gonna happen to me in a few hours. " I croaked.

"Don't you dare say that. Nothing's gonna happen to you. But if that's what you want, go ahead." She said. She silently got up and motioned for the three girls to come forward while she stood back.

I inhaled the poisonous Tartarus air and braced myself for what I was about to say.

"Thalia, Reyna, Annabeth. I know I should've told you this a long time ago, but I wasn't ready then, and I'm sorry about that. But now I am."

"What are you talking about?" Annabeth asked confused.

"This," I said and pulled off my mask.

 **(A/N: PLEASE REVIEW, CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS APPRECIATED.)**


	21. 20 - Where They Decipher The Prophecy

_(Recap: I inhaled the poisonous Tartarus air and braced myself for what I was about to say._

 _"Thalia, Reyna, Annabeth. I know I should've told you this a long time ago, but I wasn't ready then, and I'm sorry about that. But now I am."_

 _"What are you talking about?" Annabeth asked confused._

 _"This," I said and pulled off my mask.)_

* * *

 **Ch. 20**

* * *

For once I'd left all of them speechless at the same time.

"Percy." Thalia breathed. They were staring at me with eyes so wide that I was worried the eyes might actually pop out. They were like that for a full 3 to 5 minutes. Skylar poked Reyna in the ribs to get her attention. She looked at her for a second then back at me.

"It's really you. After all these years." Reyna whispered.

"Yes, Reyna. It is really me."

She just stared back. I'd braced myself for every possible reaction. The sudden angry outburst, screaming, guilt display, apologies, violent emotional behaviour, you name it. But this... I didn't think I'd have to brace myself for a 'no reaction'.

"Uh, guys... You're worrying me now, say something please."

"Percy...I don't understand! How..?" Annabeth tried to imagine what happened.

I inhaled and was about to tell them the whole story, but Skylar interrupted me.

"I'll tell them, Percy, you rest. You need it."

I nodded. I did need some rest, She began

"Dad had an eye on a certain greek hero Perseus Jackson since the time he'd returned the lightning bolt of Zeus up to the time he lead the Greek demigods into war against Kronos. He was impressed by what one demigod had done. By how loyal he was. If there's one thing dad valued more than anything, it was loyalty. So when this hero showed potential, he decided to bring the matter to the attention of the Council. When the 2nd Great Prophecy was in play, the whole Council saw what Perseus did, what he was capable of. On his way, he'd overpowered countless enemies, but also his fears. The Council wanted to have him as the Council's Army's leader." Skylar was saying, but I interrupted then

"Wait, you mean the whole Council had known all along what I'd come to be?"

"No, they didn't Percy. They can't see the future and you know that. But you were a candidate they were all willing to bet on." She answered me. Then looking at the girls who were silently absorbing the whole story she said

"Continuing to where I left off, there was a very ancient prophecy that described the path that one had to take in order to become the Council's Army's leader. That included a win over the Cyprian Tallert, and for Perseus to be the leader of dad's army. But that's not something you can just do, it needs training and experience. So it was decided that he'd be approached by a member of the Council with an offer to be under his command and train for that spot."

"Wait, so you're saying Percy was approached by some Primordial who wanted him to do a deadly quest with no assurance that he'd live or not, with his life at stake and his past life on earth to forget just to be a Commander of some army?" Thalia asked quizzically.

"It's not just some army Thalia. You see them in action then judge them." I managed to chuckle before Skylar continued, "Besides, I said this is what was planned, not what was done, thanks to you demigods."

"What do you mean, thanks to us?" Annabeth asked.

"After your war against Gaea, the Council took a vote as to who'd approach Perseus with an offer. At first Lord, Aether was to approach him since the Council felt he was most suited for the job of training a young potential demigod. Perseus' loyalty was well known to the Council members, so they knew they had to wait for an opportunity. He'd never leave his girlfriend and his campmates. But then, something happened at camp, something the Council hadn't expected. A betrayal of sorts."

At that Annabeth and Reyna looked down in shame. Thalia didn't need to since she wasn't there when all this happened, but she did anyway.

"I didn't mean for things to turn this way, Percy. I know there's nothing I can say that'll make you forgive me, but please consider the circumstances under which I was forced to take that decision." Annabeth said pleadingly looking in my direction, still looking down.

"Annabeth. I've already forgotten about that incident. I understand what forced that decision out of you and Chiron, and I understand that even though it was hard on you, you really didn't have a choice." I said.

"Forgotten, not forgiven," Annabeth noted sadly.

"We can talk about that later, Annabeth. I'll explain it to you as soon as we get outta here."

She just nodded.

"What happened after the betrayal?" Reyna asked, urging Skylar to continue my life's story.

"Well, as I was saying, it was a shocker, changing things drastically. The Council knew that Perseus was what he was because he cared about others and did whatever he did not for himself but for the good of others. This betrayal was a bullet to his fatal flaw, and the Council thought they'd lose a great hero forever. But that wasn't to be. Dad convinced the Council that he could train Perseus and make him what he was destined to be. The lieutenant of the Army was soon to retire, and Perseus was eligible for that spot. Dad didn't wanna waste more time after the betrayal as he was afraid Perseus might do something rash and the world would lose him forever. So he approached him with his offer the day he left. And Perseus realized that he had a chance to get away from everything that hurt him while also doing something for others. So he grabbed that opportunity at once. Dad brought him to Celestio where a day later I met him. We became fast friends. Back then I didn't know anything about him. But eventually, he opened up to me. He went on to prove his mettle to the Council and become the Commander of dad's army once he completed the prophecy. Thus the name hellfire."

They were soaking in this information.

"You came a long way, didn't you kelp-head," Thalia asked with sadness and happiness both mixed in her tone.

"I did thals. But I didn't forget what we had. You're still my best friend and cousin. I know you. You must've beaten yourself every single day thinking it was your fault and you weren't there for me."

"You do know me well." She smiled a bit.

"But it's true. If only I'd been there, things would've been different." She said sadly.

"You can never be sure of that Thals. But what we can be sure of is that now I'm here, you're here and nothing's gonna take that away from us. Rather than live in regret, let's cherish this time together. Let's be cousins and best friends like we used to be."

"You're right. Nothing's gonna take this away from me. Let's enjoy it." She smiled. Then she came to me, carefully raised my head a bit and lightly hugged me, making sure she didn't hurt my wound. I hugged her back. A tear was trickling down both of our cheeks, but we wiped it off each others' faces with a warm smile.

She stood back again, and I looked at Reyna who looked like she wanted to say something.

"I'm sorry too, Percy. This is actually my fault. As preator, it was my job to convince my own people that you were a hero and that those accusations were lies. And I failed." She too looked sad. For someone who didn't like to show off emotions, this was a brave leap in doing just that.

"Reyna. I know we weren't great friends when I left to begin with. But you always supported me. You were the one to let me know what was going on in your camp. You tried your best, and that's what matters. I always respected you for who you were, and still do. There's nothing you need to apologize for. In fact, I thank you for trying to convince them and do whatever you could to stop what happened from happening." I genuinely smiled at her.

"Thanks, Percy. I don't think you've changed a lot." She nodded in acknowledgement like a soldier. I nodded back.

"Percy. How are you feeling?"

Skylar asked me looking at my wounds.

"The pain's subsiding Sky. Eventually, it'll be gone. Told you I could make it."

"Oh, I always knew you could make it. But can that ever stop me from worrying?"

"Fair point. Don't worry, just a few more minutes and I'll be as good as unscathed. So now I suggest you all stop worrying about me and let's discuss what we're gonna do about this dragon."

Once Thalia, Annabeth and Reyna regained their composure and made mental peace with the fact that I was alive, their expressions indicated that the gears in their heads had started turning.

"I think I have a fair idea of how we can begin. It may not be enough, but I'm pretty sure it has to be the starting." Thalia said.

"Go ahead we're all listening," Skylar said.

"Remember the prophecy."

"What?" I asked confused. But it seemed like I was the only one who hadn't got it. Everyone nodded.

"The lost hero's past and present must unite. Now that we know who you are, we have no doubt you're the hero. So your past and present have to unite in order to kill the dragon, Percy." Reyna said.

I groaned at that. Not a month on Earth and I was already a hero of another prophecy?

However, I realized she was right. Another prophecy that I'm part of, another prophecy I'm unknowingly and unwittingly made a hero of. I sighed. That had to be some new kind of record now.

"You're right. It does make sense. But what do past and present mean? What is it? Like a recipe that I mix past and present and fling into the dragon to kill it?" I asked stupidly. Thalia facepalmed. "You're still the same seaweed brain, Jackson. How did you even manage to live so long with that kind of a brain?" She said.

"I'm honoured by the support you show me, pinecone face. Thanks so much." I said sarcastically.

"Past and present aren't ingredients. They're people. As much as I'd love to be wrong for once, I know I'm not. Me and Skylar. I am closest to Percy's past and Skylar, here is the only person related to his present. So, his past and present are aptly summed up in us." Annabeth said.

"People are past and present? What does that even mean? We five couldn't defeat that thing and you think you two can manage?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

"I think what she means is me and she will be going offensive and trying for lethal strikes while you guys go defensive. And I agree with her, it's a good plan and kinda satisfies the prophecy simultaneously." Skylar said.

"Before, we tried that. I and you were attacking. We were pushed to play defence very early. How do you plan to make it work?" I asked.

"Leave it to us," Annabeth said confidently and gave a nod to Skylar, who nodded back in return.

"Wait. We go there again? Just like that? What about some plan of attack!"

"Oh, I have a plan. Attack. Let's go." Skylar said.

I was completely healed now, with nothing more than a scar left behind to symbolize I'd ever been dealt a fatal blow. I nodded, we took out our weapons and with fierce determination and a ghost of a plan and walked towards where we'd run away from just about a few hours ago. This time though, we needed the element of surprise. Once we reached there, we hid behind a rock. The creature was in plain sight to us, but it couldn't see us yet.

"Listen. We can have the element of surprise if we attack now. Thing is, he recovered from two of those the last time we fought like it was a piece of cake. So this time Skylar, you and Annabeth make goddamn sure you don't let him recover at all, otherwise, we might as well wave the white flag and let it kill ourselves." I said seriously.

"Got it. Don't worry. You just keep it occupied playing defensive."

I looked at each of their faces, nodded to everyone once, and when they nodded back, we charged.

The fight was identical to the last time and yet not so much. The girls even after not having fought together at all even once were doing a terrific job.

The dragon was trying to push Annabeth and Skylar into defensive by using agility to counter their blows, but as soon as it countered and the girls blocked, we three would switch to attacking. I could tell from the angry grunts and desperate moves that the creature was getting impatient. We had to bid our time until it made some desperate jibe and we countered it once and for all. We'd already managed to land several blows, a few of them even major.

True, we received cuts of our own, but nothing major.

"Guys its tiring down. Let's go all out and end this thing once and for all." I mind messaged them.

They all nodded, and I suddenly almost felt bad for the dragon. The way we were all attacking, it looked like it wanted to wave the white flag. Soon enough, the dragon dropped down heavily injured, but alive. Annabeth had her sword at his throat, but I said "Wait. It is an ancient creature and has done many wrongs. Killing it with a sword might kill it right now, but it will reform. If not now then maybe in a hundred or a thousand years. But it will, and again it will reign terror in innocents with its atrocities. My hellfire can destroy it once and for all. Let me kill it."

Annabeth nodded, seeing the logic in what I'd said. But we didn't expect what came next. In a bid to save itselfyy] y, it launched itself with everything it had - on Reyna. Reyna wasn't expecting this and was taken Completely off guard. The dragon managed to leave a huge gash on her stomach. She screamed in pain, clutching her stomach and dropping down on the floor unconscious. I lit my palm with purple flames and released a huge ball of fire on the creature, terminating it, making it ash. I immediately rushed to Reyna. The others were already there, with Skylar assessing the situation.

"Please tell me it isn't a temporal wound." I pleaded, hoping to death I'd be right. Without training like me or Omega or someone, there's no way you could survive that wound.

"It's isn't," Skylar confirmed. I sighed in relief.

"But it looks bad. We need to get her to get her out of here and into an infirmary fast. She is immortal, but she can still fade. Then we'll have to wait for her to reform fast." She said seriously.

"Okay. You get ready, I'll be right back."

It was time to do what I was here for in the first place. I took out the amulet that Nico had given me and placed it where I was supposed to. An enchantment came to my mind at that moment just like he'd said it would, and I spoke it. The light coming from the bodies of the Titans stopped, signalling that Tartarus couldn't help them reform anymore. "Quest mission accomplished finally." I thought contentedly to myself. I immediately went to where the others were waiting for me. We took out our pearls and crushed them under our feet to get out of here. Skylar did it for Reyna, as she was still unconscious. They had stopped the bleeding using a few basic first aid amenities, but it still looked back. Once we were transported out of Tartarus, I didn't care where we were.

"We need to get Reyna to our infirmary at Celestio. The one at camp doesn't need to be flooded if amidst a war if we can help it. Sky, Teleport Reyna and yourself. I'll get thals and Annabeth."

"Will do." She said and held Reyna firmly. Soon, she'd disappeared.

"Alright ladies, grab my hand and we'll be off too."

They did as told, and we soon appeared outside the infirmary of Celestia.

"I know it's not the time, but this place is too huge and beautiful for an infirmary. I can't imagine what the rest of the planet must be like."

Annabeth would've sat marvelling at the infrastructure too if Reyna hadn't been injured so severely.

"You know what thals? I'll give you all a tour of this place once we're done with the war."

"That'd be amazing. But right now let's go see how Reyna's doing."

And that's where we went. But we were met with a sullen looking Skylar instead.

"What? Don't tell me we were late, that isn't possible!" I said.

"Turns out we were just in time. A few moments later and we'd have lost her, at least that's what I'm being told."

"Then why that face? What more did they have to say?" Annabeth asked worriedly.

"She's slipped into a coma, and they can't say when she'll wake up."

"Oh." Was all Thalia could say. That was a big blow.

"She's still fighting in there. They say things can turn either way from here. Either she may wake up or there won't be anything left of her to wake."

"She'll fade," Thalia whispered.

"I'm sorry," Skylar said, putting a comforting hand on Annabeth's shoulder, while I pulled Thals into a comforting hug. She had tears in her eyes.

"Commander Stormbringer! You're back! Thank Chaos you're fine." One of the soldiers of my army exclaimed. He was lying wounded in the infirmary.

"Mark! Thanks, I'm fine. But what the hell are you doing in an infirmary? What happened at camp? "

"The war on camp has begun sir. You were late by a day. Kronos has unleashed everything he had on us. He said he knew exactly where you were, but that you'd never be able to return."

"I'm fine like I said. And from your injuries, I know you are too. So give me a report. What happened today?"

"Honestly boss? Things aren't looking great. We've already lost some of our lads. The Council's Army hasn't had any casualty, those guys fight like beasts, but they have their own share of injuries. The campers are the worst hit due to lack of capable talent though. Those immortal campers are good, but a handful of 'em aren't enough. They've lost many. But the big blow is one of theirs is severely hit. Nico di Angelo was taken down trying to go one on one with Kronos himself. He may be fine, but he won't heal in time to assist in the war."

"Life suddenly became a lot more depressing," Annabeth muttered sadly. Thalia just nodded.

Looks like we're in a spot, outnumbered. And we've just lost two of our most powerful fighters. They may not be dead, but they won't be alive for long anyway if we don't do something soon. None of us will be. And End won't even need to interfere.

I won't let that happen.

"We've defeated Kronos once, we'll do it again. The campers have lost people. They need hope. And I know just how to give them hope." I said confidently.

"What are you planning to do Perce?" Thalia asked me.

"What you know now, they'll know by this time tomorrow. We wait here today, surprise attack the enemy tomorrow. At the end of the day's war, I'll reveal myself to everyone." They all just nodded.

 **(A/N: PLEASE REVIEW, CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS APPRECIATED.)**


	22. 21- The One With The Plan

_(Recap: Nico di Angelo was taken down trying to go one on one with Kronos himself. He may be fine, but he won't heal in time to assist in the war."_

 _"Life suddenly became a lot more depressing," Annabeth muttered sadly. Thalia just nodded._

 _Looks like we're in a spot, outnumbered. And we've just lost two of our most powerful fighters. They may not be dead, but they won't be alive for long anyway if we don't do something soon. None of us will be. And End won't even need to interfere._

 _I won't let that happen._

 _"We've defeated Kronos once, we'll do it again. The campers have lost people. They need hope. And I know just how to give them hope." I said confidently._

 _"What are you planning to do Perce?" Thalia asked me._

 _"What you know now, they'll know by this time tomorrow. We wait here today, surprise attack the enemy tomorrow. At the end of the day's war, I'll reveal myself to everyone." They all just nodded.)_

 _ **SPECIAL MENTION TO A GUEST USER 'ENTER YOUR NAME' FOR ALL THE REVIEWS AND FOR POINTING OUT A MISSING CHAPTER, SOMEONE ELSE AS WELL POINTED THAT OUT, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT, BOTH OF YOU! SINCE YOU ARE GUESTS, I CANNOT REPLY DIRECTLY TO YOUR REVIEWS, SO I HAD TO RESPOND HERE.**_

* * *

 **Ch. 21**

* * *

The day went by with us pacing around Reyna's room in hope of a miraculously quick recovery. Miraculously quick because the doctors had already told us her comatose state was due to her injuries, so healing those injuries was an only way she could wake up.

Her abdomen gash - the main wound caused by that slash of the gypsian dragon was the one that needed healing the most. And that, according to the 8 doctors trying to heal Reyna faster, was a really slow process. Nobody could determine exactly how long it would take.

"Percy, Skylar." Came a commanding yet a kind voice from the entrance of the room.

"Lord Chaos." I nodded. I wasn't in the mood to joke around otherwise I would've bowed down just to annoy him.

"Dad," Skylar said surprised. She went on to hug him.

Annabeth and Thalia politely nodded, knowing the Creator's hate for formalities.

"What brings you here dad? I've never seen you in the infirmary." Skylar asked, hoping that he hadn't bought some more bad news about the war.

"Why? I can't come to see my daughter?"

"You can. Thanks. But we both know you haven't come here for that."

"Yes." He sighed, then looked at me.

"Percy. I need you in my office right now."

"Uh, now? Okay."

He leads the way to his office and sat on his chair. He motioned for me to take my seat opposite him.

"What's the matter, Lord Chaos? You never call me in here during a mission." I asked a bit worriedly.

"I may not have been present in Tartarus Percy, so I don't know what happened there, but I know love when I see it." He said.

"Oh. You mean about me and Sky?" I asked.

"Yes Percy, I mean about you and my daughter." He said.

Oops, I'd almost forgotten I was dating his daughter without even letting him know of anything.

Few minutes and a lot of questions and promises later, Lord Chaos finally dismissed me. Turns out he feared Annabeth's presence might trigger some old memories and I'd go back to her.

"It's not that I don't trust you Percy, but I'm a father. If it had been anyone other than you I would have immediately disapproved. But you, I've seen you emerge into a fine courageous man with idealistic morals. So go, be with her. You have my blessings." He smiled like his old self.

"It's completely fine sir. I understand. You are, after all the Creator of this Universe and she's your daughter".I said.

He nodded, and I left the room. But when I went to the infirmary, the three girls weren't there.

"They've gone to the training arena commander." A nurse told me.

"Training arena? Now?"

"Lady Skylar suggested that they blow off some steam and for tomorrow simultaneously." She said.

"Oh, okay. I think I'll be joining them. I need to blow off some steam too." I said and proceeded towards the training arena.

Upon reaching there I saw them ferociously attacking each other. It was like everyone could attack anyone. Defend yourself from the other two while attacking one of them. That's how it was.

And Skylar was doing pretty good due to her practice and parentage, but the girls weren't so bad themselves. In a few minutes, the duel ended with Skylar's blade pointed at Annabeth and Thalia's neck; while Thalia's spear was pressed against Skylar's stomach and Annabeth's dagger was pressed against Thalia's stomach. Interesting. They pulled a draw.

They were all panting.

I clapped.

"Pretty good. A draw. But now you look tired. I was hoping for at least a bit of a fight before winning, maybe I'll come back later." I mocked.

They immediately raised their weapons.

"Bring it on Jackson. You're so gonna regret saying this." Skylar challenged. The battle was actually all of them against me. I may have gone a bit overboard with that mocking.

We fought to a draw, but I still claim I'd marginally beaten them all.

Exhausted and panting, we decided to check up on Reyna once then retire for the rest of the night.

Reyna's condition hadn't improved. But it had also not degraded, so that was something.

"Good night Annabeth, good night Thalia. Tomorrow Kronos is gonna attack at the same time he did today. Evening, as soon as the sun sets. We'll prepare a bit, plan a bit and join the battle a while after we have confirmation that the camp is under attack so that we catch them off guard." I said. They nodded and wished me good night in return, then walked off to their respective rooms.

I looked at Sky. And I kept staring.

"What? Is something wrong?" She asked.

"No Sky. In fact, nothing could be more right. I never thought I'd see this day or say these words in my life after camp, but I can't resist. Skylar Void, I love you. I officially propose you to be my girlfriend. Will you do me that honor?" I asked, kneeling down on one knee.

She smiled in return and said "Yes Percy. I'll be delighted to."

I rose up and kissed her on the lips.

"I never imagined I'd do that you know," I said.

"I know Percy. Even I didn't, but it feels good." She smiled.

"But now we should sleep." She continued.

"You're right. Tomorrow's gonna be a long day." I kissed her goodnight and we went off to our rooms, anxious about the upcoming suspense thriller of a day that was going to be tomorrow.

The next day when I woke up and saw the clock, at first I thought somebody had pulled a prank on me and tried to scare me. Then I went out and realized it was no prank. I'd slept through breakfast! Yeah I know, you must be wondering, so what's the big deal. All of us sometimes do. But not all of us have a habit of waking up 3 hours earlier than breakfast is even served. All of us aren't in the middle of a war. I am. Not wasting more time, I immediately showered, freshened up and ran to the control room where to where I'd hoped I'd find the girls. The infirmary. Indeed they were there.

"Sorry. I overslept." I said as I rushed inside.

"It's okay Percy. No need to be embarrassed. We all oversleep sometimes." Thalia stated, a bit amused at me for reacting like this to a common thing such as oversleeping.

"But I'm the Commander thals! What will the juniors, my subordinates learn from me! And what will Lord Chaos think?"

Annabeth just rolled her eyes.

"I don't care that we aren't together anymore, I'm still calling you seaweed brain. You haven't changed one bit." She said while sighing as if I was giving her a headache.

"Yeah, and I'm still calling you kelp for brains. You're still so immature. Stop making a fuss, it's alright."

"Yeah Perce, and don't worry about dad. He's the one who insisted we let you sleep. You've been working your pants off. You needed some rest." Skylar added.

I just stared at them.

"Okay, I guess." I shrugged.

"How's she?" I continued looking at Reyna.

"The same," Thalia said.

I sighed. "I guess we'll have to be patient."

"Yeah. Anyways, is there any plan for today? Kronos should start the attack in a few hours."

"Not yet. We'll need to see their numbers and ours before doing anything." I said. They nodded.

"So until then what do we do?" Annabeth asked.

"We bid our time. Get a bit of training in if you'd like."

"I'd rather not train with a big fight so close. God forbid if I sustained some injury neither the camp nor Lady Artemis will be able to afford that." Thalia said.

"Hmm. You're right." Annabeth agreed.

So we didn't train. We just sat there in the infirmary and talked about our lives. I was once upon a time as close to them as one could ever be, and this conversation covered the distance we'd created among ourselves while I was away. Thalia confessed that at first she'd been pissed off at Chiron, Annabeth, and the Romans. She had nowhere to go post the war, and when she came back to camp, she realized even I was gone.

It was only once the Gods returned and scolded the demigods on what they'd done and resumed contact with them that Artemis helped her overcome her grief and begin again. And all because I had gone, when she had lost all her sisters and I wasn't there for her when she needed me. She was always there, but I let her down.

"I'm so sorry thals. I had no idea you were going through so much. I was so selfish. I ran away trying to escape my pain, not even thinking about yours."

"You made the right choice Percy. Sometimes, it's okay to live for yourself." She said warmly smiling and holding my hand.

"We're all fine now, and that's what matters. Besides, you have no right to blame yourself. Whatever happened was my fault. I was incapable of handling the Romans. Instead, I ended up kicking out the one person who mattered the most not only to me but to the entire camp. The camp was never the same after you left Percy." Annabeth said sadly, looking down with guilt and shame.

"Enough with this blame me game people. I know its not my story and I don't have the right to interrupt, but I'd like to point out that in the end, all turned out well for all of us." Skylar said.

"Yeah, you're right. We may have lost something in the process, but we sure as hell gained at least a much of not more. We found new friendships, we remade ourselves, we changed for good, and it was a change that the world appreciated. And as of this point in time, we're here as the old times, we have a war just like the old times and like a cherry on top of a cake, we even have the enemy from our old times! I said.

"Yeah you're damn right we do."

Annabeth and Thalia laughed.

Time passed, we became a close group, Skylar included. Soon it was time to get ready.

"Alright, here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna see their numbers, their strengths and assess the situation first. No going in blind. Then instead of attacking together, we'll go one by one. We'll draw away the enemy completely from the area where they're dealing most damage." I said.

"Draw them away? How do you propose we do that? The only way we can do that is if we attack together and scare the crap out of them in that area, and you just said we won't be doing that." Annabeth said.

"You're partly correct. We're gonna scare them, but not by attacking together. By attacking individually with so much force that Kronos gets scared and does something rash."

"What exactly are you planning Percy? Tell us clearly." Skylar said.

So I laid out my whole plan.

"Percy. If this doesn't work, we lose the element of surprise, Kronos comes to know who you are before you have the chance to tell the campers and the plan backfires completely." Thalia said worriedly.

"And if we don't do this then I'm telling you thals, their army is going to be so damn huge that even if we attack them together and destroy a major chunk of their army, it'll not even be like a clink in an armor. They'll just keep coming. By then we'll have lost the element of surprise, the campers will have known Reyna is injured. Kronos will rub it off on their faces, and they'll lose their morales, making them easy targets. Game over then and there and End won't even have to step in."

"Well, when you put it they way, I guess we don't have much of a choice." Annabeth gulped nervously.

 _ **(A/N: PLEASE REVIEW, CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS APPRECIATED.)**_


	23. 22 - The One With The Mask Off

_(Recap: "And if we don't do this then I'm telling you thals, their army is going to be so damn huge that even if we attack them together and destroy a major chunk of their army, it'll not even be like a clink in an armor. They'll just keep coming. By then we'll have lost the element of surprise, the campers will have known Reyna is injured. Kronos will rub it off on their faces, and they'll lose their morales, making them easy targets. Game over then and there and End won't even have to step in."_

 _"Well, when you put it that way, I guess we don't have much of a choice." Annabeth gulped nervously.)_

* * *

 **Ch. 22**

* * *

Just then I heard the familiar buzz of my walkie-talkie.

"This is Commander Stormbringer, go for Commander Stormbringer. Over." I said in the audio piece.

"Commander. The war on your current mission Planet Earth has begun. Reports from our soldiers there say things are looking pretty gloomy. The enemy has a huge army and outnumbers our side at least four against one. They won't be able to hold off much longer. Over."

"Okay. Don't tell them anything about me yet. They'll know when they see me. Tell Lord Chaos we've left for the fight in case he comes looking for us. Over and out."

"Yes, sir. Good luck. Over and out."

I breathed in deeply and said "It's time. Let's go."

They nodded. Skylar grabbed Annabeth's hand and I grabbed Thalia's hand and we teleported us to a place I knew in the forest from we could see the war and yet not be seen by anyone. Once safely teleported, we started assessing the situation. That soldier over the walkie-talkie wasn't exaggerating. Things were indeed looking pretty gloomy.

"Okay. We don't have much time. That corner right there. That's where most of them are. We need the whole area gone. Chose one corner as your own and get going. Nobody touches that part. I'll go for Kronos."

To others, our plan wouldn't have made much sense since I'd just told them we wanted an area gone and then I'd told them none of us would be attacking that part, as I said. That was for those who didn't know our plan. We did, so we were going to execute it.

I waited for my cue, I was to go last. Skylar stayed with me since even she could teleport to her side as soon as the time came. Annabeth went to her corner sneakily and so did Thalia. Once they were there, Annabeth started her role.

She came out of nowhere and started attacking the monsters with all she had. I'd given her a few vials of greek fire and some more such weapons. The result was, by the time the monsters realized Annabeth Chase had returned and was slaying them, they were all gone. The campers cheered loudly at the return of their leader. Meanwhile, Kronos watched dumbstruck as a chunk of his army was taken down in a matter of seconds by one demigod.

"Ha! So you're the only survivor! Otherwise, you'd all have been attacking together!" Kronos said confidently. The campers started looking at Annabeth in shock thinking the same thing Kronos was. Even my army saw some sense in it and was starting to look worried. That was my plan all along though, so everything was good.

"They haven't got anyone left now! Finish them!" Kronos bellowed. roar The minotaur, probably signaling an attack started to roar. Just then, out of somewhere, an arrow came flying at him. He grumbled in pain, but took out that arrow and started growling at the direction of the attack furiously. To his surprise though, not one person in there had a bow. The sons of Apollo and the Hunters of Artemis were far away from there busy in their own battle. Just then, there was a blur of arrows and the impact rattled the minotaur's ground.

The fight all around had come to a halt now. Annabeth's surprise attack had halted most of it, but these arrows stopped the remaining ones. Just then, Thalia sprung from the direction of the attack and started firing arrows at blinding speeds. I'd given her a lot of different arrows. Flaming ones, water ones, supersonic ones you name it. As a result, she killed the minotaur and did exactly what Annabeth had done.

Take out a huge chunk of the enemy's army. Kronos could only watch with rage the damage his army was suddenly incurring.

"Don't worry demigods. Kronos lies. It isn't true that we haven't got anybody, in fact, we have got everybody! And thanks to that amulet, your brothers won't be reforming anytime soon." She smirked. Kronos realized that to

his horror our quest was a success. We'd defeated that creature.

"My turn now," Skylar said and varnished. Unlike the other girls, Kronos already knew we were all alive now so she started attacking and unleashing her powers straightaway once she had teleported to where the enemy had their second largest numbers. Soon enough, her Chaos powers and expertise had rendered the enemy in that area helpless. They were running for their lives.

That's when I mind messaged a certain old friend and he attacked those fleeing creatures with what he had in store for them. They were, if possible even more terrified of this new enemy they had. Even Kronos was looking nervous. Meanwhile, Skylar was finished and had neither any survivors nor any injuries on herself.

My turn now. I teleported to where I was supposed to be and waited for something I was hoping would happen, and so did my friend who joined the fight as a surprise element. Seeing that my friend had teleported to somewhere else and remembering Thalia's words of how all of us had made it out alive, he cast an immediate look at his army. Knowing that this new enemy was my friend and that there were only two corners of his army left - the biggest and the smallest, he thought just what I was sure everyone else was thinking.

Two people left one of them me. Naturally, I'll attack the place where most of his numbers are. So he grinned and started speaking "Oh master end. Grant me that blessing you gave me and let me finish off the Commander!" he said. He then raised his hand and unleashed a stupendous amount of raw energy at that place everyone expected me to be.

Yeah, that friend of mine I'd mentioned was Filos. But unfortunately for Kronos, I was a step ahead of him. The attack used up such a tremendous amount of power that he wiped out his own army in trying to kill me. "Yes. I have killed the Commander! I know he was hiding there!" He boasted. Thalia, Skylar, and Annabeth all played along, staring at that place with tearful eyes and devastated expressions like I had actually been there. Just then, I got on Filos back. With Kronos as well as his whole army momentarily distracted, we both teleported to where exactly Kronos was and started wreaking havoc. By the time Kronos realized he'd failed, his entire army around him was finished.

The ones that were left in that small corner tried to flee but were picked off by the Amazons. Kronos was alone, against me. And I didn't want him to talk much. I wanted this to end. So I attacked him such ferocity and voraciousness that he didn't know what hit him. Soon enough, I had my blade pointed at his throat. I leaned in and whispered in his ears "The last time, I had to hand over the knife to Luke to kill you, turned out I wasn't the hero after all. But this time, I am. And I'll be the one killing you." His eyes widened when realization dawned on his face, but before he could say something, I chopped off his head with my temporal sword, making him fade away permanently.

"The chapter of Kronos is finally Over. He has permanently faded and will never bother you again." I announced. The campers were overjoyed at that news. However, Reyna's absence didn't go unnoticed. She was an important part of the camp after all. We told them about my plan and Reyna's condition. The mood deflated, but Reyna was alive and Kronos wasn't, and the other Titans weren't coming after us now. So this was still our day. However, there was something I had to do. I called for a public meeting. I made sure that the campers, both my armies, the hunters and amazons were present. I prepared my self for a long speech.

"People. Today was a great day. There are still some dark shadows. We have lost a few, we have many more injured. But today's day was just a reminder to every one of you of what just one person, no matter the parentage is capable of. Don't lose hope. I promise we'll emerge victoriously. All I need is your faith in me. But while I was on the quest in Tartarus, I realized how wrong I was. I was just expecting you to trust me, and not giving you anything in return. After all, why would anyone put their lives on a line for a stranger? This isn't just for the campers, but also for both my armies. You've all followed me since the day I took command and haven't said a word about why I always keep this mask on. And I feel like I was playing with your trusts. I'm sorry about that. Especially to your campers. That is why today, I'm going to tell you something that a very handful few people in this entire universe know. I'm going to tell you who I am, underneath this mask. Before I do that though, I'll tell you one more secret you might be interested in knowing."

And I showed them my hands on purple fire. Once that sunk in, I continued "Yes, I'm Assassin hellfire, the actual leader of the army you see here. And now, as to who I really am."

I inhaled and began." My full title goes something like this: "Commander Stormbringer, esteemed primordial Council member, companion of the Cyprian tallert, champion of Lord Chaos, Commander of the Army of Peace, Leader of the Council's Army, Assassin hellfire, the wielder of hellfire and brutal punisher of crime throughout the Universe. That's what most of you know.

But many of you campers here would know me better as... "

I took a deep breath, pulled out my mask and in a few seconds continued

"Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, slayer of Medusa, winner of the duel against Ares, retriever of the lightning bolt and the helm of darkness, survivor of the labyrinth, Leader of the battle against Kronos, a proud Preator of Rome for a short time, one of the seven." There was Complete silence all around. The campers were in stunned silence, while even my army was thinking 'so that's the guy this camp was speaking so highly of, and he's our Commander!'

I was about to say something, but the remaining immortal campers barring Thalia and Annabeth all stormed out of the place angry that I'd kept it away from them for so long. I sighed. When Skylar came to me to reassure me I politely dismissed her. "Please Sky, not now. I need some alone time." She nodded understandingly and I went to my cabin to sleep over the events of today. If they continued to be angry at me, tomorrow we wouldn't have unity. Now with Kronos gone and no reports on Gaea's involvement, End had to attack tomorrow. And if this is how things were going to be here, it would be a walk in the park for him to kill us all.

 **(A/N: PLEASE REVIEW, COMMENT. CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS APPRECIATED.)**


	24. 23 - The One With The Resurrection

_Recap: I was about to say something, but the remaining immortal campers barring Thalia and Annabeth all stormed out of the place angry that I'd kept it away from them for so long. I sighed. When Skylar came to me to reassure me I politely dismissed her. "Please Sky, not now. I need some alone time." She nodded understandingly and I went to my cabin to sleep over the events of today. If they continued to be angry at me, tomorrow we wouldn't have unity. Now with Kronos gone and no reports on Gaea's involvement, End had to attack tomorrow. And if this is how things were going to be here, it would be a walk in the park for him to kill us all._

* * *

 **Ch. 23**

* * *

The next morning, I just woke up and was greeted by a great news from Elmont.

"Percy. Reports confirm that Kronos' death was a big blow, and our enemies weren't prepared for it. They need time to regroup."

"So what exactly are you saying El?"

I asked.

"What I'm saying is, reports have confirmed they'll be no attack today! We can relax for the day, get some training in, remake strategies and basically have a day off!" He said grinning.

"That is the best news one could have in the morning," I said, to which he nodded, and wandered off to somewhere and practice.

Just then, I saw Thalia, Annabeth, Nico, Leo, Hazel, Jason and Piper all marching towards me. I still remembered how angry and disappointed they were yesterday, so as soon as I saw them, I began to apologize, but was interrupted.

"You don't have to apologize. In fact, that's what we're here for."

"Wait, so you're not pissed off at me?" I asked confused.

"Yesterday we were, but then we did some thinking and realized how wrong we were, so we wanted to talk to you about it," Jason said.

"You chose to reveal yourself at a time when you didn't know you'd live or not. That and the fact that you forgave us all gave us a fair idea that you considered us an integral part of your life." He said.

"And honestly after what we'd done, what we'd made you go through? That was more than we could've ever hoped for. So we were in agreement that it mattered that you'd always planned to tell us and you did, not when you did." Piper added.

"We made a huge mistake Percy. Gods, a mistake doesn't even cut it. We thought it was only fair of us to give you your space, after all, we'd been through because of us." Nico said.

"Yeah Perce. Annabeth and Thalia told us what happened during your quest. We're cool man. In fact, we should be the one apologizing."

"Yes, Percy. I'm so sorry. You were my first ever friend at camp, and I failed you. Even I got carried away by what everyone was saying." Hazel added looking down in embarrassment and shame. Romans aren't used to apologizing.

"You have nothing to apologize for Hazel. Nobody does actually. Just like Leo said, we're cool." I smiled at them warmly.

"Nah Percy, after all this while, a smile won't cut it. Group hug!" Annabeth announced. And we all had a group hug. Me, Thalia, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Hazel, Nico, Leo. I noticed Frank wasn't there though. So I pulled out of the hug and asked them about it.

"He's beating himself up, Percy. He thinks he failed as a Preator, as a friend, as a boyfriend, everything."

"What? He has no reason to feel that way, Hazel."

"I tried to convince him that, but he won't listen."

"Don't worry, I'll go talk to him right away," I said.

Hazel had a grateful expression. I went to see him immediately. He was beating himself up just like Hazel said. He apologized again and again without even listening to me, so I did the only thing I could think of. I slapped him. He shut up. Mission accomplished.

"I probably deserved that." He muttered.

Ugh. Code red! Mission backfiring! Change in approach required.

"Yes, you did," I said

That made him look at me straight in the eye. I could see the guilt eating at him. So I continued

That's right. I said it. Yes, you did deserve that. But not for what you think you've done. For what you are doing to yourself and others around you over it." I said. That got his attention.

"What do you mean? What am I doing to people around me? "

Just the words I was waiting for. I went on to tell him about my life, about his role in my life when I was at camp, about how great a friend he was. I made him remember how he had led the group in the house of Hades and then the Romans against Gaea. In the end, he agreed to move on. We, bro, hugged and just like that, everything was cool between us again. Mission finally accomplished. I sighed. Now that everything from my past was made peace with, I went to see my present. She was as beautiful as the morning sky, as mesmerizing as the night sky. She smiled when she saw me.

"Good morning Sky," I said and kissed her. She kissed back and wished me a good morning. We chatted about a few things, but just then the immortal campers returned. As soon as I saw them, I told Hazel "I talked to Frank Hazel, and it was a successful chat. He should be fine now."

"I met him, and he told me. Thank you, Percy. But that's now why we came here."

"Then? What's it?" I asked.

Percy, as a welcome back to camp gesture and also to apologize, all the cabin leaders have organized a little party tonight in your honour. If you've truly forgiven the camp then be there Percy. It'll mean a lot to them and us." Thalia said.

"I'll be there Thals. I'd never miss such a sweet gesture for the world." I reassuringly smiled at her.

They all hugged me one last time and went their way, happy from the looks on their faces.

That day went by pretty fast. That night, I did go to the party. And I was met with many apologies, from the Stolls, from Katie and everyone else who knew me back then. Even Chiron began an apology, but I told him he'd been like a father, and these things kept happening in a family. I hugged him then, and he hugged me back tightly.

"I missed you so much, my boy." He said.

"I missed you too Chiron," I said.

The party went on for a few more hours. Everyone was coming up to me and shaking hands with me. They'd all heard stories about me. Even the Council's Army and the Army of Peace was invited. At one point Fritz caught me when I was alone and made me tell him everything. I trusted him, so I told him in a short version. Even the short version lasted about half an hour though. I then excused myself and decided to pay the Olympians a visit. I needed to tell dad personally. And that's exactly what I did.

I went to Olympus with my mask on and found Hestia there. I told her to call an urgent meeting. Once all the Gods had arrived, I cleared my throat and decided to get it over with. I removed my mask, and before they could say anything I told them about my life after I'd left. I told them that the I just told the campers about me. Dad got down from his throne and hugged me tightly.

"My son. I can't believe it. I missed you so much. After Sally, I was so sorry that I left both of you down."

"You didn't let us down dad. I did. I ran away. So don't apologize." I reassured.

A few apologies from both our sides and a few hugs later, we were back to where we were before I left. The gods were also surprisingly happy. For once Dionysis wasn't sleeping, Ares wasn't glaring at me and Zeus wasn't glowering at me. Most of them were in fact smiling.

"It's true what they say Perseus. You realize the importance of someone only after they're gone. But you came back, and are again responsible for saving us and our children. You have our gratitude." He said.

Once all the pleasantries and all were exchanged and I bid farewell to everyone and hugged dad one last time, I left Olympus and got back to camp to prepare for the battle that would take place tomorrow. As soon as I reached through, Elmont and Skylar came rushing to me. And I had the feeling they came bearing bad news.

"What is it now?" I asked cautiously.

"It's bad. Reports have confirmed that End will be in the war tomorrow. And the campers aren't ready to face him, Percy."

"It's difficult, but not unmanageable. We knew this would happen sometime. I mean cmon, did you seriously think the main villain would do down without a fight just because we killed his sidekicks?" I asked incredulously.

"That's not it Percy, listen to him," Skylar said.

So I looked questioningly at Elmont and he promptly continued

"Reports confirm another sidekick of his will be joining the war, Percy. Gaea has reformed and is looking for revenge."

I just stood there for a minute waiting for them to say something like 'oh no we're just messing with you' or 'we have a weapon to kill Gaea in a minute. Some good news to make this news a bit less bitter, but nothing came.

"Styx. Bad is an understatement. We can't fight off two Primordials at once, that too with one of them being so powerful he's next only to Chaos, only marginally."

 **(A/N: PLEASE REVIEW, CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS APPRECIATED.)**


	25. 24 - The One With The Wild Argument

**Ch. 24**

* * *

 _Recap: "Reports confirm another sidekick of his will be joining the war,_ Percy _._ Gaea _has reformed and is looking for revenge."_

* * *

I just stood there for a minute waiting for them to say something like 'oh no, we're just messing with you!' or 'we have a weapon to kill Gaea in a minute... Some good news to make this news a bit less... Ugly, but nothing came.

"Holy Hemera. Bad is an understatement. We can't fight off two Primordials at once, that too with one of them being so powerful he's next only to Chaos, only marginally."

This was really bad news. We hadn't anticipated such power against us on the same day.

"This is going to be difficult, but not impossible. Together we can do it, Percy." Skylar attempted to reassure me. It did little to boost my confidence though. I had first-hand experiences about being outnumbered when I was with Omega. The difference though was that usually I and Omega would be the most powerful beings among both the sides. Here we had Gaea and End. If it came down to 2 on 2 with Gaea and End pitted against me and Skylar, I didn't fancy our chances.

"Elmont. Call a meeting. Make sure all the immortal Campers, Chiron, Fritz, Gregory and you both are present. Let them know of the situation and all of you try to come up with some strategies. We need all the help we can get. I'll be back before the attack."

"Wait, where are you headed? Shouldn't you rest? Tomorrow's going to be a big day. And besides, we need you in strategizing as well."

"I forgot to reveal myself to an old friend. I'll ask for some assistance if possible. I'll do that, then I'll go and see if I can get another old friend to help us out in the war. As I said, we'll need all the help we can get."

"Wait. If you're going to reveal yourself to Rachel, she already knows. Annabeth told her, but Chiron has advised her to stay away from the camp till the battle is over. She's dying to see you, but she can wait, and it's not like she can help us in a war, she's a good person, but she's no fighter." Skylar said.

"I know she knows. That's because I was the one to tell her. So I had Iris messaged her. I'm not meeting her. I'm meeting someone else."

"Who? I think all your friends know about you now Percy." Elmont said confused.

"I forgot one El. My first one ever. He's very important now, so maybe he'll not meet me. But I'll have to try." I said and teleported to the forest. I searched for a few minutes until I found a tree nymph I'd known for a long time. She was asleep. I put my mask on first, not wanting to scare her.

"Juniper," I said. No response. She must be tired or something.

"Juniper. Wake up please." She fluttered her eyes open and was surprised to see me."

"You...You are that Commander Stormbringer! What are you doing here? And how do you know my name?"

"I'll tell you that, Juniper. But first, tell me something. Why are you away from camp? Why did you leave them? Now you don't help them, so no satyr or wood or water nymphs help them. Why? Things weren't like this before, were they?"

She looked down and said "My husband. He's the lord of the wild. Grover Underwood. He's a very noble and loyal satyr. Kind, caring, loving, brave. Everything. I'll ask you something, Commander. You've been in camp for a long time. When you were there, have you by any chance ever heard the name Perseus 'Percy' Jackson? Or have they now stooped so low as to not even remember him?"

"I've heard that name a lot of times, Juniper. They say he was a great person. Brave, caring, loyal and what not. They are really sorry for what happened to him. They tell the new campers each day about his stories. They tell them its an honor to be Percy Jackson's campmates."

It was true. I'd heard the new kids say all this.

"Really? " She stared at me.

"Yes Juniper, really. But tell me, what has that got to do with why the wild assists the camp no more?"

"It hasn't got anything to do with particularly the wild. It has got to do with my husband."

"You mean the Lord of the wild, Grover Underwood? What about him?"

"Yes. Him. You see, Grover was assigned to observe and take care of Percy. They became very good friends eventually. They understood each other, cared for each other, watched each other's backs. Him Percy and Grover went on so many quests together. But when he was away on work, the camp kicked Percy out. At first, he couldn't believe that Chiron and Annabeth would do that to him. They were the least likely to ones in the whole camp. But it was true. And that got him very angry. That's why he decided to leave camp. I came here and here lives here sometimes, but mostly he's away on work."

"But then why won't the other creatures of the wild help the camp? Isn't it their camp as well?"

"They do. But the creatures care about their lord more. Some respect him while others fear him. I and he were also offered immortality. Of course, we took it. Grover saw Pan, and that's a very big deal to us. Besides, since taking over as Lord of the wild he has done so much to save the wild, no one can argue against him. He didn't force them of course. He just said he was going out and everyone had a choice whether to accompany him or not. Needless to say, everyone agreed."

"This is all my fault. I'll go and fix it right away. Tell me Juniper, where will I find him?"

"Your fault? How do you even come into this whole picture? And why do you want to find him? How can I know you'll not harm him? Besides you still haven't told me how you know my name."

"I'm sorry. I should have done this earlier, but I didn't want to freak you out." I said. Then I pulled off my mask. Before she could form any words though, I interrupted.

"Listen, I know this is a lot to take in, but trust me, I wanna find my G-man right away and tell him how wrong his decision has been. I want to make things right Juniper. This new war isn't exactly going our way. Suffice to say, things are bad, and I need him before things get to where we all just stare doomsday In the face helplessly."

"O..okay P... Percy. I'll tell you where he is. He's in... "

She didn't exactly give me an address but guided me to some forest, and once I said my goodbyes I teleported to that place. There I saw him discussing something animatedly with a fellow satyr.

"I don't care that you are also in the Council, I don't care if that Lord Chaos himself is in the Council. I'm not helping that wretched camp any more than I'm abandoning the wild Tus. Enough. Let them die, I don't care." He was saying.

To one of his Council members, I presumed. Wow, he really hates them with a passion.

I had my mask on, so I went there. A few nymphs blocked my way through.

"I'm here to see the Lord of the Wild, Grover Underwood."

"Who are you and what is the reason for your visit?" One of the nymphs asked me.

"I'm Commander Stormbringer of The Army of Peace, Assassin Hellfire of the Council's Army, a member of the Primordial Council."

"You're a Primordial?" the other one asked me a bit scared.

I gave a light laugh at that.

"No, but my power exceeds most of them anyway, and I've earned that place when I fulfilled a prophecy. I'm not a Primordial, but I m definitely as powerful as one. As to why I'm here, I'd rather prefer discussing that alone with him."

The first one went to Grover to tell him about me, and Grover must've said something in return. The guard gave the other guard a thumbs up signal, and I was ushered in with a bow.

"Welcome, visitor. While you're a guest here, your needs are our priorities. Let us know if you need something."

"I will, thanks. But now if you don't mind, we'll like to talk in privacy for a while."

He looked at Grover for confirmation, and after scrutinizing me for a few seconds, he gave a nod, and the guard left us alone.

"Commander Stormbringer. Before we begin I'll make one thing very clear. I know why you've come here, but I'm done helping that wretched backstabbing camp. Sorry, but I can't assist you in your war."

"This war is ours as well as it is your satyr. You think End is going to let you live if you don't assist us? Wrong. He wants destruction, and destruction means the end of everything, including the wild."

"I don't care. He's after that camp, and I'm not fighting any wars for them. Not after what they've done." He grunted.

"You're being naive and immature Satyr. You're a Lord of The wild, perhaps you should act like one. You don't have to fight any war for them. But just think, once End is done with us, he's coming after you. Like it or not, the campers are your last line of defense."

He took some time to consider this. I was right. End was an unforgiving evil-minded maniac who'd leave no stone unturned in finishing off everything from the very roots of its existence, including the wild, the mortals, us and the Gods.

"I understand what you mean. But you know an alliance doesn't work well if we don't trust our allies. How do you plan to make that work?"

"I don't. It'll work itself out if the fates wish. For the time being though, I'm asking you for an alliance with us. The Army of Peace and The Council's Army."

"It's one and the same. You, them, the campers. It's the same side. Doesn't matter how you put it in words."

"No, it isn't. Look, you can fool yourself all you want. I know why you're doing this. You're doing it for him. I've heard a lot about him at camp Grover. I understand that you care for him an-"

"You don't understand a thing Commander. You had mo right to bring it up here. I allowed you in because I respect Chaos and I've heard a lot about you. But now I'm not having any of it. This conversation's over."

He was walking away, shaking his head. He looked so dejected at the campers, and I couldn't blame him. I'd probably have the same reaction if his friends did this to him. He was and will be truly my best friend. I considered revealing my identity, but if I did that, I knew he'd come along and help for me. But I need to make things right between him and the campers. I realized how wrong I was in blaming them. I'm myself a leader and sometimes I have to make decisions that I don't necessarily like but need to be taken as they are good for the majority. As a Commander, I always have to put the majority's life above any one person's. That day I was the one person. And no matter how betrayed or depressed I felt, I knew they thought they had no choice. If I reveal myself now, Grover will always blame them and never understand all this.

Grover was still walking away, and I didn't know what to do. Should I stop him? Should I talk? Or should I reveal myself? What if he becomes angry at me for revealing myself so late and running away and abandoning him. Or worse, what if I don't, and he blames the campers for all I went through and attacks them siding with End. Grover's alliance is gonna be the deciding factor, so should I? Or should I not?

 **(A/N: PLEASE REVIEW. CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS WELCOME.)**


	26. 25- The One With The Foe's Apparent Ally

**_Ch. 25_**

* * *

 _(Recap: Grover was still walking away, and I didn't know what to do. Should I stop him? Should I talk? Or should I reveal myself? What if he becomes angry at me for revealing myself so late and running away and abandoning him. Or worse, what if I don't, and he blames the campers for all I went through and attacks them siding with End. Grover's alliance is gonna be the deciding factor, so should I? Or should I not?)_

 _"Alright, Grover. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have crossed that boundary. But tell me one thing, is this what he'd want? That you abandon the place he'd once considered his home?"_

* * *

"I don't know and I don't care. He's not here now."

"Don't be a naive fool, Grover. You know all too well that those innocent campers don't deserve this. You know they were misguided, and I know you've been keeping tabs on them through your sources. You know they've paid for what they did, you know they're repentant."

"Will their repentance bring Percy back? No? Then I don't want anything to do with them."

"You're not just Percy's best friend Grover. You're the Lord of the wild. The best friend of Percy Jackson, who accompanied him on multiple quests. Lord Pan himself gave you his blessings. A kind caring loyal person. You're throwing all that into the drain for want of a vengeance that's centuries old. They already feel guilty, and there's nothing more they can do. They're gonna die, Grover. We all are. This war is beyond us without your help. So I suggest you rediscover yourself."

"I.. I...I'll think about it." He said hesitatingly. I could see he was seeing sense in my words. It was very important that he started trusting the campers again. I could have simply revealed myself and he'd have followed me anywhere, but now we both had very different roles in our lives then back when I was 12. He needed to get along with them. I'd taken upon myself to make him realize how childish he was behaving. And by his looks, I was just a little push away from success. So I continued.

"Grover. Listen. They may have done wrong, but forgiveness is divine. And from what I've heard about you, I thought you'd have forgiven them a long ago. You didn't. Okay, but right they all need you. They were your family. Fights happen in a family. You don't abandon them because of that. If you do though, then it means you'll leave them to die. And if that's going to be the case, then I'm sorry, but you're no better than End. You might as well join forces with him and attack us."

"I can't do that! I'm just angry, not some pyscho, evil being!"

"Well then, you figure out a way because you not helping us and you allying with them is gonna mean the same to us."

He contemplated the meaning of what I'd said for a few moments.

"I'll help them. I'll give them one chance. One last chance. But tell them, Commander, if this time they screw up I will literally follow your advice and attack them with all the wild forces myself."

I smiled at that. My G-man was back. Now that he was, it was time I let him know about myself.

"Thank you. As I said, it's in your nature to forgive. And I'm kind of counting on that, as I'm going to need you to forgive me for something else as well."

"What something?" He asked confused. I could see curiosity burning in his eyes.

"This," I said, and pulled off my mask.

"Hey, G-man. It's me." I smiled a small smile.

He just stared at me dumbstruck for long. Then in what appeared to me like a deja vu, I clarified everything. Deja vu because the same had happened with the campers and Thalia and Annabeth and Juniper. Stuttering, saying my name, poking me to check if I was real, then me explaining my story and then finally them absorbing, understanding everything, sometimes a bit of not-so-painful hitting for my disappearance and keeping them in the dark, then either shaking my hand or hugging me. So right now after almost an hour of the revelation, here we were, with Grover hugging me tightly muttering "I don't believe this, you're back. Juniper was right. I gave up. She didn't. She said you'd be back for me. Thank you." He was in tears, and so was I. Grover was my closest and best friend. What made our friendship most significant though was that when we found each other, we both had found the very first friends of our lives. Before we found each other, we didn't have anybody. And together, we became so much more than what anyone including us could have anticipated.

"I missed you, Grover. I'm so sorry I didn't tell you earlier. I just couldn't get myself up to it. I was so ashamed at myself that just because of some event in my life I let you and everyone who cared about me down. I abandoned you all and ran away."

"No, you didn't. Your circumstances were different. And some good came out of that. Now, look at you. Commander and all. Way to go Perce." He whistled. And just like that, I got my best friend back.

"The campers are really repenting what they did Grover. I've forgiven them, so should you. Just a suggestion."

"You were always the forgiving type, no wonder you forgave them. And yeah, I think it's time to let go of that hate. I'll talk with them, maybe after the war. Make sure things are how they're supposed to between us."

I nodded. Grover has matured.

"Okay listen. You head to camp with every bit of force that you can gather. Let the campers know you're back. I have one more errand to take care of."

"What could you possibly wanna take care of with the war of our lives so close?" Groves asked confused.

"If things work out the way I hope they will, then you'll see. Tell the campers I'll be back before the war begins."

"Okay. Take care and hurry up. We'll need you to be on time."

"Yes, I will. Hey, wait. Actually, I do want you to pass on a message from me. A letter."

I took out a pocket notebook and a pen and scribbled a note addressed to Skylar.

"Take this, and hand it over to Skylar. No one else, okay? Strictly, nobody else should even know that such a note exists in the first place let alone read its contents." I instructed, handing over the note to him.

"Got it. I'll give it to her and only her when nobody's watching. You go do what you were about to, let me worry about the note."

"Thanks, buddy. I know I can count on you." I said, then we hugged once more and I put on my mask and set out to arrange a gamble. A gamble that if it paid off would give me a rich dividend in the form of victory over end but a bad play and everything and everyone would be left to end. Oops, bad pun.

-2 HOURS LATER-

I had arranged for some things to take place, and I needed them to take place at the right time otherwise all would be lost. I'm not being a pessimist, just realistic. As a leader, I can't tell people on their face that we'll lose if we don't do something reckless, dangerous and risky. I'm sure even some immortal campers and Skylar, Elmont, Fritz knew of the situation but they were hoping against hope they were wrong. But they weren't. Our situation looked pretty gloomy. End, Gaea, and both of their armies of monsters. Those were some serious numbers, and with two Primordials leading the charge, there were numbers with power. Practically an impossible fight. The campers and the army were going to be destroyed by sheer numbers while, as I said earlier if it came to a two on two with me and Sky pitted against End and Gaea, I didn't go fancy our chances. Besides, I just couldn't bring myself to thrust Sky on Gaea and watch and hope patiently that Sky won. Not that she was incapable, but there were 50-50 odds, and I didn't like the 50 stacked against my girlfriend. I soon reached camp. The defense line was set, the sky was buzzing with pegasi who I guessed had been ordered to keep watch from above and warn us of a sneak or an aerial attack. My soldiers who saw me saluted me, the rest were probably positioned at various boundaries as a defense line. I went to my cabin and discussed the plans with Elmont. Skylar and Annabeth and Thalia were there too. We'd just finished discussing the plan, and it looked good. After the meet, I pulled Annabeth aside and asked her what was going on with Grover.

"It's not as bad as it was. He's not completely comfortable, but I'm sure things will eventually work out. Thanks, Percy, calling him to help was indeed amazing." She said.

"I'm glad. Besides, I didn't have a choice if we wanted to win this war, and I wanted Grover to be by my side."

She eventually excused herself. Apparently, she saw someone wasn't in their designated position and decided to have a chat with the fellow. Poor guy. I know how Annabeth can get if you mess up her plan even the slightest.

I and Skylar hadn't said a word to each other about the letter I'd sent her through Grover. Fortunately, she knew better than to bring it up in the presence of privy eyes and ears.

Everyone was on full preparation mode for the war. The Amazons and hunters were practicing since hours, or so I'd heard. The campers were either tending to the wounded or practicing themselves, trying to go up against the hunters and the Amazons and getting their asses handed over to them in the process. The senior campers along with Skylar, Elmont and I were running things and making sure that everything was pitch perfect for when end came. No pun intended, of course, doesn't hurt to be an optimist. Fritz was training with the Council's Army.

Just then, all the airborne Pegasii started screaming shrilly. The defense was being breached from underground. Probably Gaea with some cheap tricks.

"Sound the conch! We're under attack!" Jason screamed, hovering in the air beside the pegasi. Whoa. I'd almost forgotten we had our very own brand of Superman.

The conch sounded twice, signaling the camp was under attack. The most confused ones though were our defense line, since they could see no enemy in sight in any of their posts. But it doesn't take a genius to figure out that if only the airborne can see something, it's quick and underground and very sneaky. Elmont, Fritz, the hunters, amazons, all campers all came out from wherever they were, dressed in full battle armor and ready for war. The two Roman praetors were in their royal purple capes. Hazel and Frank, of course, Reyna was still injured so Hazel had been given emergency promotion. Elmont came rushing to me dressed in full battle regalia and with my armor. Once I was in my armor, I asked him

"Where's Sky?"

"I have no idea. Last I saw her she said she wanted to check the north side defense."

"Was Fritz with her?"

"Of course he wasn't. In your absence, he has to lead your army, in case you forgot. He can't be the bodyguard. Why?"

"Because everyone can hear the pegasi screaming, but no one here exactly understands Pegasii language!"

"Why are you freaking out Percy? What exactly are the Pegasii saying?"

"Attack from the North." I was about to rush to the north side when Jason screamed

"The North and the forest! They're attempting a breach from both the sides!"

"Crap! El, take the army along with Grover and the wild and rush to the forest, I'll take the campers to the North. Let Fritz guard the front, this may be a diversion for all we know."

He just nodded and rushed to carry out the orders. I signaled Annabeth and the Roman Praetors to follow me along with the campers' armies, but I rushed to the site of attack before their backup reached me, hoping against hope that Skylar had hidden somewhere for backup rather than engage herself with the enemies single-handedly. "Then where was her walkie-talkie? She could have just called for backup" my sane self told me. "No, maybe the walkie-talkie fell down, maybe because they caught her off guard?" My desperate self argued back. "And someone catching a warrior like Skylar off guard is a good thing right? That explains why she couldn't ask for help!" My sarcastic side argued. Ugh, ADHD is a scary thing sometimes, leaves no stone unturned in making you believe you've totally lost it.

Soon I reached where the Pegasii had spotted an attack.

"Oh, Gods," I muttered. This area was a battlefield. Monster dust lay everywhere. No site of any human, let alone Skylar. Soon the campers came.

"Whoa, what happened here!" Leo exclaimed.

"Whoever did this had to be on our side, and pretty powerful. I mean just look at all that monster dust!" Hazel said.

"It was Skylar. She was here last." I muttered open-mouthed. I couldn't see her anywhere and that made me worried sick.

"Skylar? You mean Princess Skylar? Why would she come here?" Frank asked.

"Elmont last talked to her a few moments ago, and she'd said she wanted to check up the north defenses. Besides, I know her aura, she'd very powerful. And I can feel it here. It was Skylar. The question is, where is she now?" I said and began looking everywhere in the battle struck area for any signs of my girlfriend. So did everyone. Once we didn't find anything, we decided maybe she was injured and went to the sickbay. She could teleport, after all, so she didn't have to necessarily pass by us. But even there I was disappointed. Now I was really, really worried. I even sent El to check Celestio, and again it was a failed attempt. Right now we were in a meeting with all leaders and immortal campers as well as Chiron present. My friends were all reassuring me and saying how it was going to be alright, but that did little to lessen my worries. In fact, my worries were worsened. I had just learned that the army that had attacked us had retreated. When you have the advantage in numbers, you only retreat if you have an even more leverageable position. I began thinking the worst, and the more I thought, the more it made sense, and the more I wanted to dig a hole and die.

"I think Skylar has been captured by the enemy," I said in a shaky voice. But I could see that only a few of my audience had a bit of a shock displayed on their faces. So the others had already pieced it together and figured it out. God, how dumb could I have been! We are in the middle of a war, one of our most important warriors goes missing, the enemy retreats from a position of advantage. It wouldn't take Einstein to connect the dots.

"I know it sounds bad, but trust me, we're assuming the worst here, and even if that's the case, we'll get her back. Together." Fritz said.

"Fritz. Relax, you don't have to feel guilty here, it wasn't your job! You were on some other duties." Elmont tried reassuring an almost completely devastated Fritz who looked ashamed at something that was probably my fault. Just then, a mist seemed to be appearing in front of us. We all sat up straight, curious to know who was sending a message during such a dire time. Maybe some good or at least hopeful news.

The mist became clear, but unfortunately a lot many things became unclear. We saw Omega on the other side in a very dark room, barely recognizable and he was wearing what looked like the enemy's colors.

"Omega... Is that... Is that you?" I asked surprised.

"Percy. Been so long huh? It's indeed me. Like my new attire?" He asked when he saw us staring at his clothes.

"What's going on Omega? What are you doing in our enemy's colors? Where are you? Where were you since so long? Ever since you retired it's like you disappeared from the face of the universe!"

"Oh relax Percy, doesn't matter where I was, now, here I am! Isn't it great! All of us together again! Me, you, Elmont, Skylar... Oo someone calls Mordridge and it'll be a reunion!"

"Stop messing around Omega. And Skyla's not here, we fear she's been taken by the enemy, who so happens to wear the same colors as you do. So quit beating around the bush and explain." I said firmly.

"Oh, but she is here!" He looked back, then mockingly said: "Oh sorry my bad, I must've forgotten the lights." He said. Then with a snap of his fingers, he turned on the lights, and my mind shut itself. I couldn't think, I couldn't feel, I couldn't speak, nothing. Because right in front of me on the screen and just behind Omega was Skylar. But her predicament is what terrified me. Her hands were chained to the wall ceiling, and the height of the ceiling was such that her feet were left dangling in the air. She had multiple cuts on her face, arms, legs, almost every part that I could lay my eyes on. She had a gag stuffed in her mouth to prevent her from screaming. A gash on her abdomen was bleeding profusely. All around her there was her golden ichor, and she was groaning in what looked like unbearable pain. The back of my hair stood up seeing her this way. I'd seen many people tortured, but not women. And even if they were, they would be criminals we'd be interrogating. Hell, I'd done my part on them as well, but this was so different. This was one of the most innocent girls I'd ever met, and she was receiving the worst treatment one could get. Many people in the room had their hands covering their mouths in disgust at the brutal predicament of the Princess. Some looked shell-shocked. Fritz looked furious.

"What does this mean! What is this! What happened to her!" Fritz asked in a loud voice.

"Oh, the great assassin Fritz. I've heard a lot about you. Too bad we couldn't work together like I always wanted to. But that can change! We can still work together if you like!"

"What have you done? What's going on? Stop blabbering nonsense and get on with it!"

"Oh. Straight to the point. Very professional. I respect that. Okay. Here I go. See, you all saw what's happened to her. But the good thing is she's not dead yet! True, she's immortal, but hey, I'm sure I can arrange for temporal steel from somewhere!"

"You have turned. And you did this. To Skylar! We were all friends! How could you?!" I asked finding my voice.

"Oh, I haven't turned yet Percy. You see, I always wanted to be the Council's Army's leader, going on all those solo missions and all. But then you came along and I had to train you for something I wanted my entire life. Now I have the chance to take it away from you. Whether I turn or not depends solely on you! My offer is that I'll let Skylar live and I'll disappear again as I did before if you forfeit this war along with both your armies and you resign from that spot. If that spot isn't mine, I won't let it be yours either. Or you can just refuse and let your precious girlfriend die miserably."

"All this, in such perilous times for a stupid position? What's happened to you Omega? I always knew you were silent, but I took it as professionalism, not bitterness! And again, you say you haven't turned but you wear our enemy's colors. How can I trust you anymore?" I said tensely.

"You can't. But you don't have a choice. You have three hours till I call back. As to why I'm wearing this, you see, this is the glimpse of the future in case you decide that Skylar needs to be killed. I officially become part of Gaea and End's forces."

"Officially? What are you like an unofficial member?" Elmont said confused.

"I approached them, but obviously given my background with the army, they don't trust me. They told me to do something drastic to gain their trust. So that's what I did." He said spreading his arms around the room to showcase the 'drastic' step.

"You've become crazy. You did all this just to make a point? And that too in front of a psycho?"

"Yes, Percy. So what if he's a bit crazy. He can get me power. So I'm not gonna complain. And now enough talks. Decide. I'll call again in three hours. If you haven't decided then I'll kill her and attack you as well, so don't try to stall." He swiped through the mist and the message disappeared, Skylar's soft grunting still audible in the pin drop silence. I couldn't believe what had just happened. The man who was once my leader, the man who once taught me most of what I know today, that man had gone on to side with one of the darkest beings the universe had or will ever see. I needed to tell Lord Chaos immediately. I IMed him. When he appeared in front of the screen looking all happy and energetic, I said

"Sir. We have some bad news."

"Oh. You look awfully depressed. Also, where's my daughter?" He said seriously once he saw our faces.

I looked him in the eye and said

"Your daughter has been captured by an old friend. He has sided with our enemies."

"Wha...Who... How...! " He stuttered, stunned into silence.

"Our Ex-Commander Omega has turned. I'm sorry." I said.

 **(A/N: PLEASE REVIEW, CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS APPRECIATED.)**


	27. 26 - The One With The Betrayal

_(Recap: "Oh. You look awfully depressed. Also, where's my daughter?" He said seriously once he saw our faces._

 _I looked him in the eye and said_

 _"Your daughter has been captured by an old friend. He has sided with our enemies."_

 _" ... How...! " He stuttered, stunned into silence._

 _"Our Ex-Commander Omega has turned. I'm sorry." I said.)_

* * *

 _ **Ch. 26**_

* * *

It took Lord Chaos only about 20 seconds to comprehend what I'd said.

"How did this happen? How could she possibly just be taken in front of all of you!"

"I'm sorry sir, it was my fault. I sent her a letter through the Lord of the wild to personally check our weakest defense lines. She must've realized that the northern side was the weakest. The Pegasi alerted us when the first attack happened and it was the northern boundaries. There was monster dust everywhere, and I could sense her. Omega must've caught her by surprise." I said looking down in shame.

"Find her and bring her back. I don't care what you have to do. Understand? I want my daughter back at any damn cost and that's an order!" He said a bit sentimental and angry and swiped his hand through the mist and the message disappeared.

All of us just sat there for an hour trying to come up with anything that could, if not get Skylar back, at least buy us some time.

"It's been an hour. We only have two more hours. Why aren't we out searching for her?" Leo asked.

"There's no point. If Omega has taken her the only way we can find her is if he wants us to find her, which is clearly not the case." Elmont said.

"He's that good? I'm starting to get more scared from him then end now if you guys talk about him that way." Piper said.

"He was our Commander. For much longer than Percy was. Omega taught Percy. What do you expect? He's good." Fritz said.

"So what we just sit here waiting for him to call? And then what?" Annabeth said. This entire time Chiron was awfully quiet.

"Chiron, you're unusually quiet, what are you thinking?"

He cleared his throat and said "Percy. I don't know what to say. Is he really as good as you say he is?"

"I'm afraid so."

He inhaled, exhaled, inhaled, exhaled.

"Chiron just says what you want, You're freaking us out."

He inhaled once more and began "Percy. It's true that this camp was once your home. But we shunned you, and you found a new home, new love, new lease on life. It would be wrong of us to ask that you fight for us again, especially after what we did. And I've seen the way you look at Skylar. If Gods forbid something were to happen to her we never would be able to forgive ourselves."

"What are you saying then Chiron?" I asked, mainly just to verify what I'd understood.

"Take Omega's offer. Save Skylar. Leave us."

There was so much silence you could practically hear the heartbeat of the person seated next to you.

"I.. Chiron.. You... I can't... No.. I.. That's... No. I can't abandon you. I'm not leaving. We'll find a way to get Skylar back and win the war."

"Percy. I Know it's a tough choice. I know how much you still care about us. But I think we don't deserve this. Maybe its the will of the fates, their plan all along. To punish us. Go. Take your armies with you. Unify all the other planets against end. We'll manage on our own."

"Chiron. You made a mistake. Unknowingly. And I already forgave all of you for that. That's past us now!"

"He's right you know Percy. You should go, we don't deserve you. You brought Grover back, that's already more than we could ask from you. Live your life, don't spoil it for our sakes again." Annabeth said.

"Annabeth. If we go, neither end nor Gaea will even have to step into battle. Their sheer numbers will overwhelm you. You know that! You're a daughter of Athena and the leader of this camp! Act like one!" I scolded her for being so sentimental at such a time.

"And Chiron. The fates wanna punish you? Their plan all along? I think their plan was to unify us not make me abandon you. As for your not- required needless guilt? What happened to me was only from a handful of you, that I've already forgiven might I add. You sending us back is like punishing everyone, the other campers, the wild, the Olympians, the Minor and other non-Olympian gods... Just think what you're saying."

"Then what? You're gonna tell him no? And lose Skylar? We won't allow you to do that Percy." Thalia stated firmly.

"Thals. I don't think Omega will kill her. He wants something. He's doing this for some reason. And he told us what it is. He wants to become the Commander, he'll become one."

'What do you mean to become one?"

Jason asked.

"I mean, I'll talk to him. And I'll let him become the Commander of the Council's Army. The thing he wants the most. In exchange for Skylar. And an oath that he does not attack us in this war."

"You will give up the most Prestigious position in the universe to a freaking blackmailer?" Fritz asked a bit upset about this decision.

"It's not like I have a choice. It's better than abandoning these campers in exchange for one of our hostages anyways Fritz."

"Yeah, but how will you make sure that once he becomes Commander, he doesn't go rogue on the Council? We are all bound by blood oath to follow our Commander, regardless of his character or his deeds. If we don't follow him we'll die. Well, I don't mind dying, in fact, I'd rather die than let him lead me. But what about the rest of the guys?"

"Relax. Things will pan out just fine if you all follow my plan."

'You have a plan? You should've told us sooner Perce!" Nico said. Wow, that guy still appears out of nowhere and speaks from the shadows. Oh well, some things never change I guess.

"Okay see here's the thing. I'm going to resign as Commander of the Council's Army officially by spilling a little blood from my wrists. Once that is done, I'll pass on the mettle of Commandership to Omega. We'll make sure Omega swears according to our terms first though. Then we finish this war. He stays out, we get Skylar, our attack plan stays intact and we try to defeat end and Gaea's combined forces as planned."

"You... Are just going to... Leave that post? I mean can you even do that?" Annabeth asked. I was about to answer her when Fritz spoke up

"That's a crap plan! The same problem persists! We can't have such a strong army at the disposal and mercy of such an ungrateful power hungry psychopath! Did you not look at what he did to Skylar?"

"Fritz, calm down. Remember, our priority is to get Skylar out and help earth win this battle at the same time. I don't care about a post as of now. That can take a backseat as far as I'm concerned." I replied.

"But he's right you know, you should think about it once more. In winning this battle, you're endangering the entire universe by giving them Omega as the Council's Army's leader." Elmont said.

"Do anyone of you realize you're not letting me complete the climax of my plan?"

"Wait, there's more?" Clarisse asked confused.

"Of course there's more! How could you even think I'll let that man snatch so much power when I know he's not capable or worthy of handling it?"

"Okay then go on. We're all ears." Annabeth said, resting her chin under her palms taking the support of the table.

"Okay so look. Let's let Omega feel he's got what he wanted. He'll make an oath, he'll be bound to not attack us. He'll be busy celebrating his victory and meanwhile, we'll be defeating our other enemies. Once the war is past, Omega is gonna realize he isn't really Commander. Because I won't swear to that directly. I'll put in something about how the Primordial Council has to be consulted first. But end is gone, Gaea gone, he'll not have an ally. He'll just have to go back to wherever he suddenly appeared from. We get Sky, we get to fight the war fair and square, he goes away, hopefully permanently this time. So... What say?"

"Uhh... It sounds good and all, but I don't understand, if you make him swear, he'll also make you swear that you're making him Commander! How do you plan on getting away from that?" Fritz reasoned.

"I can play with words. Trust me, I'll break no laws, make no promises and yet get what we want."

"Are you sure? That sounds like a pretty big gamble to me..." Annabeth said.

"You know my plans always have 10% skill and 90% luck and yet I get through without being skinned alive by some enemy."

"Uh..you have a point there. But this time if you fail Perce, you're not going to have a chance to even look back let alone change anything." Thalia said.

"I know thals. But don't worry, there's a reason the universe is in its most war free state since I took charge. So do you think people all of a sudden stopped fighting? No. They can't stop hating, but I can make them, if not love, at least be tolerant towards each other. I've been more diplomatic than aggressive throughout my tenure of 4 centuries. I have a way with words. So you can count on me."

"It's funny how we've always been counting on you, how you always end up being the front face and the leader of the wars we fight," Annabeth said.

"We trust your judgment my boy. Hopefully, it'll succeed, but even if it doesn't, we'll find a way. No pressure on you." Chiron said.

"Thanks, Chiron." I smiled.

"So its settled. When he calls I'll talk to him and keep this proposal. If he agrees, phase one of fooling him is complete and if he does not go with it, I'll tell him to go to hell." I stated with authoritative finality. I knew some of them would want to contest the last part but I wasn't gonna have any of it. At last, they just nodded. We decided to wait for a while in the big house itself and wait for his call. We couldn't afford more time here when war was looming over our heads after all. Turned out we didn't have to wait long. Omega was very punctual. In exactly three hours he'd called us and we had put forth our proposal. He took his time but finally agreed to it. He swore in the message itself that is when he came here I did give him the post I'd promised he'll tell me Skylar's location and I'd find her alive.

There was some relief in the camp as Omega accepted that offer. Some relief in me and the army that Sky would soon be with us. We even let Lord Chaos know about the offer and our plan, and he wished us luck. Alas! Even that little bout of happiness was gonna be shortlived. We got another call. Not from Omega and yet from Omega. Because this was some unknown Chaos lookalike calling, and Omega was standing right beside him.

"You liar! You dare mess with me! You dare play games with me! I'll make you pay for it!" Omega screamed from the other end of the mist. The whole Army of Peace and the immortal counselors had gathered around me by now seeing the mist and hearing the all too familiar voice of Omega.

"What happened? Why's he screaming his throat off?" Grover whisper-yelled in my ear.

"I think he's got wind of our plan," I whispered back.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the mist, the Chaos lookalike was trying to calm down Omega. What a strange sight.

"Perseus Jackson. We know who you are, we know why you care so much about this place. Although after all, they put you through it makes us wonder why you'd want to help them, but Omega here gave us an insight into your.. Ahh... Personality and we realized that you won't change sides for anything in the world."

"Who are you? Why is Omega suddenly screaming bloody murder to me and why do you look so much like Chaos? What's this all about?"

"Oh, who am I? Wow, for a person of your wits you're so dumb. I'm End of course! That's why I look like Chaos! He's my brother! As to why he's shouting and what this call is about, it's a joint answer. You see, we here have the resources and power to intercept iris messages. I and Gaea have been following your ongoing discussions with Omega for a while now. He got your girlfriend didn't he?"

"That has nothing to do with you. It's between us and we'll sort it out. You stay out of it." I said with clenched teeth.

"Oh but Omega can make a very powerful ally to me. Not only in this war of course, in the future as well. We can crush forces with so much ease."

"We made a deal. He gets what he wants and in exchange, he gives us what we want. The deal was closed today itself, maybe you missed that conversation."

"No. I assure you, I don't miss eavesdropping on any conversation. Including the one you had with my brother very recently." He smiled creepily. Done. We were so done. I had literally narrated the whole plan to trap Omega on the message. It was no use denying or arguing now, Omega would just make me swear in his own terms and I wouldn't be able to do that and be caught anyway.

"End. Stay out of our business." I said seriously.

"Too late now Perseus Jackson. It's our business now." He said, placing his hands on Omega's shoulders like they were best buddies and still smiling creepily.

"Jackson. You made a grave mistake. You tried to trick me. You gave me false hope. You tried to ditch me all along. It's payback time now. Start counting your days."

"It's on Omega. But I tricked you. Keep Skylar out of this. Chaos will never forgive you if something happens to her." I threatened.

"Don't give me those threats Percy." He said, surprising everyone by rolling his eyes.

"What so now you're not scared of him? You must be out of your mind."

"Don't be naive Jackson. Look at us and look at you. Your Olympian Gods won't help you, the Council can't help you, Lord Chaos can't interfere and fight. We have two Primordials and a huge army with us. And now we have Omega as well! Tell me, who should be threatened?" End answered.

Onega continued "Oh and about keeping Skylar out of this, I think we both agree to that."

"We do?" I asked confused. I couldn't see where this was headed.

"Sure. So go get her out from that museum you once had your mission on."

"So you expect me to walk into your trap?"

"Oh, Percy. Please. It's no trap. Okay, if it makes you feel any better, I swear on the Styx that on your way from here to the museum and back, and also when you're in there, nobody and nothing from me or my army will attack you. It'll be like we never existed."

"That... Doesn't make any sense. Why would you just leave her?"

"Leave her? Oh, excuse me. I forgot to swear to something else. I swear, Percy that when you go to that museum, you will indeed see Skylar, although she might be a little... Unconscious. "

"Unconscious? What do you mean?"

"Oh you know, Unconscious as in when somebody dies?"

"Wh.. What.. You... You... No... You're messing with me. You're lying."

"Have it your way. I just swore by the Styx. And still, if you're not satisfied, I swear on the Styx that I used these very hands of mine to strangle her." He smiled creepily, just like end. Then End gave me another creepy smile and swiped his hands through the mist, his last words being "We're coming for you, be ready. Soon enough we unite you with Skylar."

"No. No. No. He... He... Kill... No.. How.. No..." I just sat there so lost, so destroyed mentally, so distraught emotionally. I couldn't comprehend anything happening around me. I failed. My plan failed. And if Omega was to be believed, it cost Skylar her life...

 **(A/N: PLEASE REVIEW. CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS APPRECIATED.)**


	28. 27- The One Where The Commander Goes MIA

_(Recap: "Unconscious? What do you mean?"_

 _"Oh you know, Unconscious as in when somebody dies?"_

 _"Wh.. What.. You... You... No... You're messing with me. You're lying."_

 _"Have it your way. I just swore by the Styx. And still, if you're not satisfied, I swear on the Styx that I used these very hands of mine to strangle her." He smiled creepily, just like end. Then End gave me another creepy smile and swiped his hands through the mist, his last words being "We're coming for you, be ready. Soon enough we unite you with Skylar."_

 _"No... No... No... He... He... Kill... No...How... No..." I just sat there so lost, so destroyed mentally, so distraught emotionally. I couldn't comprehend anything happening around me. I failed. My plan failed. And if Omega was to be believed, it cost Skylar her life...)_

* * *

 **Ch. 27**

* * *

 **PERCY'S POV:**

The ground underneath me seemed to be shaking. I didn't know what to think, what to say. Heck, I didn't even know what to believe. Omega's oath or my gut. My gut screamed that Sky.. my Sky could not be dead. Then again I remembered Omega had sworn. How could he get around an oath made on Styx? As devastated as I felt, the only alternative to not feeling so wretched was to go and verify for myself what the truth behind Omega's words was. And as easy a way, as it sounded, I couldn't bring myself to just go. I didn't like the odds stacked against me. My gut versus Omega's sworn oath. Meanwhile, my friends were trying to stir me out of my reverie.

"Percy. She's not dead! Wake up and listen!"

"Wh.. What.. What did you just say?" A spark of hope lighting my pessimistic train of thoughts.

"Percy. There's a chance she's not even dead! At least go and check!" That same voice said. I didn't care to know who.

All the hope deserted me as fast as it had come, and I felt depleted emotionally once again. Chance. Never would I have even imagined such a disastrous and miserable day when I'd have to take chances about Skylar's life.

"Percy. You have to hurry up, only you know what place that was! She might be fatally wounded for all we know! All that matters is that she be alive!"

"You're right. I don't have time. Maybe she's wounded. I'll go over right away."

I just made sure I had some weaponry, I didn't know what to expect there. Once that was done, I just nodded to Elmont and teleported out of there. When I reached outside the museum, I swept the surroundings for any suspicious activity or signs of any monster. The outside seemed unusually peaceful.

I went inside and explored as if a tourist, trying the knobs on any closed door I came across and looking for concealed rooms or dungeons of any sort. It took almost 10 minutes, painfully much more than I was hoping. Every second ticking by made my heart beat faster and faster. But I found something finally. A Delta. A greek symbol. Maybe this is it. Hopefully, I end up finding Skylar... Alive. And not end up in the labyrinth-like the last delta had taken me, Rachel and Annabeth. I placed my hand on that delta and pushed a bit.

The ancient symbol started to glow a bit before the wall suddenly started shaking and shifting. It gradually caved into a door enabling me to enter. At first, it took me a while to adjust to the darkness, so the only things I could see were chains dangling and blood smeared beneath my feet. Slowly my vision adjusted and I swept through the entire room. My eyes laid on something no, someone, and momentarily, it was like I was in some kind of paralysis, seeing everything but unable to move, talk or avert my gaze. Her body lying underneath a pool of blood...

* * *

 **3RD PERSON/NARRATOR'S POV:**

The camp was in a dilemma. It had been too long and Percy hadn't returned. The night was approaching, and if spy reports were to be believed, discussions in the enemy camp about the possibility of a night attack was going on. That was in no way a piece of good news for the camp. There were so many questions, and the only person who could answer was missing. Percy Jackson hadn't contacted anybody at camp, neither had he let his army know what was going on with him. For a while, the campers and the army alike had reasoned that maybe he found Skylar alive but severely injured so he took her to Celestio. Elmont had doubts about that theory when a few hours passed and no message from Percy or Celestio came. So he himself called Celestio, using Shadow messaging though, now that they knew Iris messages weren't exactly private anymore. Unfortunately, even that shadow of hope disappeared, when Elmont learned that neither Lord Chaos, nor the Council, nor anyone in Celestio knew about the whereabouts of Percy or The Princess. Now the campers were left stranded without their leader (they thought of him as one, even though he didn't lead them because of his past experiences leading both the camps.)

Elmont and Fritz were capable enough to lead the Army without him, but it just didn't feel as good and as original as when he led them. Percy always seemed to know the best solution to any and every situation. And it didn't exactly help the morales of the soldiers that their Princess, who they had seen in action and described as 'crazy powerful just like the Commander' was rumored to be dead, and that their Commander, who also happened to love her was MIA.

Elmont had offered that he go with Fritz and Gregory and a few handful others to check Percy's last known location - the museum. But Annabeth had made him see sense, that if Percy was up to something, we'd better not waste our time and concentrate on the war and if something happened to him, whoever went there would obviously meet the same fate as he did, seeing as no one was more powerful than him. Elmont offered a lot of alternatives like all the GIs going and stuff like that, but Annabeth explained that Percy would've wanted that we concentrate on the war while he's doing whatever he can to help us. She made them remember that the last time he'd disappeared, he came back with Grover and the wild. The campers and army men eventually saw the sense in her words and thought it best to brace themselves as best as they could for any attack and trust Percy's abilities and just patiently wait for him. So they were all onto the job. Rectifying possible breach positions, marking territories to the stronger soldiers to lead the battalions in that particular area. The northern part was symbolically handed over to Annabeth.

A few more hours passed, the Pegasii were tired, the campers exhausted, their energies diminished and morales sinking to the depths of Tartarus. Just then there appeared to be some sort of commotion near one of the defense lines. Then the conch blew.

"Alert! We've been attacked from the western frontier! Shore up the defenses and brace yourselves for surprises!" Frank, who was assigned that particular frontier shouted.

Everyone seemed taken aback that the enemy would attack there since that was strategically and skillset wise the second toughest spot to breach. The rest of the campers and armies got ready to fight. Soon enough, the enemy had reached the front entrance, engaged us already from the west and was advancing in the north, where the Army of Peace was stationed. Yeah, one could say they had a huge army, but then you'd have to say 'understatement'. The enemy, unlike those villains in movies, wasted no time in boasting and banter. They immediately charged.

End, with a sick smirk, was leading the main entrance platoon. In the west, Frank was up against an angry looking Gaea. Piper and Jason immediately went there, trying to destroy her the same way they'd done last time. The northern attack was led by Omega who seemed the least hesitant to attack who were once his own brothers. Either that was a big coincidence or a well-planned move. Omega, after all, had been their boss for a very long time and would know precisely how the Army worked. Even Percy hadn't gotten a chance to regroup the army and change their approach to take Omega by surprise. Fritz and the Council's Army were on standby in the center of the camp, agreed that they'd go wherever backup was required the most.

The Campers and soldiers of Chaos alike rushed giving battle cries of their own. The Soldiers just shouted 'To Lord Chaos' and charged when the enemy got close enough. Arrows rained down from both sides, and it looked like the onslaught from the army was so ridiculously strong that the enemy had no chance. Unfortunately, when you factored in numbers, the enemy had a constant upper hand.

You'd think that the campers would rush towards the enemy with their usual 'For Olympus' cry, but it was not to be the case today. Instead, the whole camp loudly cried 'For Home' and rushed. Such was the scary determination of the soldiers and campers that End and Gaea had a look of uncertainty. However, Omega, being a war veteran himself, seemed unfazed that his battalion of monsters was falling down so quickly. He just seemed to enjoy the moment, shouting "Keep 'em coming, Let's see how much more can they take! We have the numbers here, and all present here are mortals, so at one point they'll be tired." He was correct in a way, he wasn't fighting the immortal campers, and Elmont wasn't fighting the army, he was engaging Omega himself, so the monsters faced only mortals.

Seeing Omega riding high on confidence, End and Gaea regained their sinister smiles and began attacking the demigods themselves instead of standing there like they were before. Seeing this, another conch blew, and in came the Council's Army. Fritz immediately went for Omega as vengeance for Skylar while a handful of his men followed. The rest were instructed to assist the immortal campers, who were now engaged in a fierce yet what seemed to be a one-sided fight with the Primordials. Piper was still trying charm speak but Jason couldn't get her airborne this time. She stayed on the Ground and whatever wounds Leo, Calypso, and Jason gave her just disappeared as fast as they appeared. Frank had retreated to command and lead half the army while the other half, he honorably requested Hyllaa to handle. Hylla was more than proud of that opportunity and grabbed it. The men of the Council's Army fought like beasts with lightning fast strikes and equally strong defenses, but they were hopelessly outnumbered when it came to a battle of powers. End would just need one hit and it would send the victim flying back feet away. Nico, Annabeth, Hazel, Thalia were all up against end but they didn't seem to be having much luck. Annabeth tried sneaking behind End with her Yankees invisibility cap but End felt her presence and kicked hard in what looked like air to the naked eye but was Annabeth's stomach, sending her reeling back a few feet. She hit a tree. The cap fell off and she wasn't looking good. She had bruises on her hands and legs, blood gushing out of her head where the tree had hit her. The onlookers on her side could only hope immortals didn't have concussions otherwise Annabeth definitely had one. Nico tried a slash but end blocked it. Thalia tried to run through end with her spear but the Primordial saw the move coming. Normally at such a time the thing to do would be pushing Nico aside and blocking the spear from Thalia then counter attack. But End was smarter than that. He knew he was outnumbered, and even though he knew he could easily win against these demigods, he didn't trust Gaea to make it, which would mean Percy Jackson who wielded hellfire and who also happened to be freakishly powerful for a non birth Primordial might suddenly come in from wherever he'd gone to mourn over his girlfriend. He'd be very angry and looking for revenge. Omega was there, but he was still new and End didn't completely trust him yet. So he decided to end this quickly with the demigods. So instead of pushing Nico aside, he grabbed him and pulled him closer and in between Thalia's spear and himself. Thalia, realizing too late who her target had changed to, couldn't stop the spear in time and it pierced Nico.

"No! Nico!" Momentarily forgetting the battle she rushed towards Nico, who End had tossed aside. Nico was slowly fading away. He was dying, and Thalia felt like she had killed him. True, he would reform in a few years, but that would never change the fact that Nico di Angelo fell in battle, but not from the enemy's hands. From his cousin's instead. "It's... Okay... Not... Your... Fault..." He managed to breathe out before there was just a golden aura left where the demigod had fallen.

Meanwhile, Thalia had completely forgotten that with Annabeth still hurt pretty bad, she had left Hazel all alone against End. She heard a piercing scream and turned her back in time to see End's sword making a huge gash on Hazel's chest. She didn't fade away so quickly as Nico, but you didn't have to be a medical expert or Apollo's kid to know that she was very critical. Will and a few of his brothers rushed to Hazel while Thalia tried to keep End occupied. Unfortunately, the contest was so one-sided that a simple block and counter-attack later, Thalia had ichor rushing out of a huge thigh gash that didn't seem to stop. End smiled victoriously. "Tskk tskk tskk. Serves you right for killing your own brother now doesn't it, little godling?" He said with a voracious growl and was just about to deliver the death blow to Thalia when Jason appeared from above and deflected the attack. Piper got Thalia up while will rushed Hazel to the infirmary. Jason and Piper then engaged in fierce battle against the ancient Primordial, both of their clothes and faces completely smeared in blood. Newfound confidence and hope ruled over their minds and adrenaline pumped in them. They had once again defeated Gaea. But at what cost, Annabeth, Thalia, and Hazel were yet to find out...

 **A FEW MINUTES AGO, JUST BEFORE ANNABETH HIT THE TREE :**

Leo was constantly throwing fireballs at Gaea's face. The goal wasn't to set her ablaze, just to distract her long enough for Jason to control the wind under her and take her airborne so that she couldn't heal. The plan took a long time to work, but as they say, persistence pays off. All Leo had to do was keep on attacking while Calypso defended him from the monsters. Gaea would try at attack but she had Jason and Piper to worry about. Piper's charm speak wasn't exactly making life easy for her. One could easily say she was struggling, especially with Hylla taking charge of the campers and her Amazon army all alone so well. She commanded with confidence, and her booming imperative tone left no doubts in the campers' minds of who was in charge.

Gaea was trying very hard. She was a primordial, but now the demigods were immortals, and they'd already defeated her once when they were mortals. A strong contest, unlike the one against end. Gaea was strong, but nowhere near as powerful or as skilled as the ancients End and Chaos.

Momentarily distracted with fireballs and an arrow from Frank that pierced her arm as an amazing plan since Gaea hadn't expected him to jump into the fight while leading the campers, Jason managed to control the winds. Now that he was immortal and had years of experience, he didn't need to draw Gaea up. He just needed her to be either weak or distracted enough to control the winds around her and raise her in the air along with Piper.

Once she became airborne, Frank handed over the reins of the campers to one of his centurions and transformed into a dragon to attack Gaea. Simultaneously, Leo threw a huge fireball at queen dirt face while shouting 'Hey princess potty sludge! You went down once you'll go down again! Gaea saw that coming and raised her sword and wielded it in an arc so that the fireball hit it and changed its course to hit Frank the dragon. However, the experience is the best teacher. Frank saw that coming and his impressive skillful dive downwards easily prevented him from the hit. Meanwhile, Jason and Piper both were flying, Piper on a venti that Jason had asked for assistance and Jason himself on his own personal mini cyclone. He used the time Gaea took to counter Leo's fireball and attacked her with a full force of the wind and his sword. Gaea, busy with Leo and Frank didn't see that one coming. She flew back a long way due to sheer force of the wind. Jason though expertly kept the earth Goddess in the air with robust concentration. Leo again took a shot, this time catching her off guard and hitting her square on the chest. Again she flew back, and again Jason didn't let her fall. Now she was flailing and trying with all her might to dive down as she was bleeding ichor profusely. But there was one more player left and she didn't wanna feel left out. Piper McLean had improved her charm speak so much that now Gaea in her weakened state followed her words without a second's hesitation. Piper said 'Go to sleep! Swear on the Styx that if you're ever reformed, you'll never attack us again.' And to everyone's astonishment, she did swear the oath. She dropped down unconscious on the ground, comfortably asleep. This boasted the morales of campers and they attacked with renewed vigor. So did the Council's Army. Soon there were no traces of an enemy in the west except for a sleeping Earth Primordial. The Council's Army though had no intention of forgiving or letting her go. They handed a temporal steel sword to Jason. Jason went over to the sleeping Goddess with Leo right beside him but was in for a shocker. Gaea hadn't been as sleepy as she seemed. One last attempt from her to kill Jason as revenge, and Jason didn't saw the move coming. However, his best friend did. And he did what any other best friend in his position would do. Stepped in between them and took the sneak dagger attack onto himself.

"Leo!" Piper screamed. Jason realized what had happened. Gaea had used up her last reserve of energy and so Jason easily separated her head from her body, ichor spewing out. Meanwhile, tears were rolling down Piper's eyes. Leo Valdez had just faded into nothingness. Jason tried to be practical, that it wasn't the end and he would see Leo again when he reformed, but his friend's gesture to save him left Jason teary-eyed. Just then he heard a shriek that sounded like Hazel. He saw her falling injured with a thigh wound. He assured Frank that he had it while Frank acted as Preator again. He flew there along with Piper and was just in time to deflect a wound directed to kill his sister. He managed to push end aside, but the immediately realized that the Primordial was far too strong for them to beat. They needed Hellfire. They needed Percy.

 **BEFORE THE WAR BEGAN... AT THE MUSEUM :**

 **3RD PERSON'S POV :**

Percy Jackson saw a sight that for a moment sent a shiver down his spine. He saw Skylar's limp body, lying in a pool of golden ichor. He immediately rushed to her, caressing her, feeling for a pulse. He couldn't. Now one would wonder that if Skylar was immortal, how could she die on strangling, but as a daughter created out of power, she could die by any temporal material. Even if it was a wire used to strangle her. And she wouldn't fade away, she would die like a normal mortal. Such was her fate. It was a blessing in disguise in a way, at least this way you could do the burial rites and depart her with honor. But strangely, Percy wasn't thinking about all this. He felt her pulse, and he didn't feel it. He didn't feel his girlfriend's pulse, but he didn't shed a tear. He stood up and smirked.

"Excellent. Everything's going according to plan now." He said.

 **(A/N: SOOO... BET NONE OF YOU WERE EXPECTING THIS WERE YOU? SO, WAS IT WORTH THE WAIT? REVIEW WHAT YOU THINK IS HAPPENING OR WILL HAPPEN. CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS APPRECIATED.)**


	29. 28 - The One In Which War Begins

**Ch. 28**

* * *

 **3RD PERSON'S POV:**

Jason deflected that attack and started engaging End himself with Piper by his side. However, Calypso was still shattered and broken. They'd lost Leo. They couldn't see Nico and only assume the worst. Hazel was just taken to the infirmary. Thalia looked barely able to fight. Hylla and Frank had to lead the campers against the monsters. Grover and the wild were busy fighting off the monsters who had attacked from the forest. Once a leader, always a leader. Jason immediately realized the circumstances he and Piper were in. He knew they were hopelessly outmatched and they needed help. They needed the one person who could fight end, so that Jason, Thalia, Piper could all go and defend their home from the vile creatures who still outnumbered the campers. Unfortunately, he didn't know how to call Percy. So he kept on fighting.

But End was so ridiculously strong every moment seemed like it would be his last. Every attack seemed to backfire, every counter attack getting blocked easily. Jason, being a veteran of war knew he would soon fall. He just didn't want Thalia and Piper to go down with him. So he did what a hero would do. He made a suicidal plan. He went into ultra-defense. He kept on shifting his feet back while continuously blocking end's moves. End thought Jason was backing down, but in truth, he was readying himself for what he thought was his last chance. Once he had gathered enough breaths and concentration, he abruptly stopped. Seeing this, End, instead of finishing him off got confused and stopped himself.

"Young Godling. You're giving up? Do you want an easy death? Ask for it, I can be very generous when I want to be." End smiled triumphantly, practically shouting these words. The words radiated in the war zone. The determination of the campers had been so much that both sides stood shocked that a demigod would give up. When they saw which one it was, they stood there dumbfounded. For once, the war had stopped.

"Jason! What're you doing!" Piper squeaked in a tiny voice, seeing her boyfriend in a neutral position with the sword pointed towards the ground against an enemy like End.

"What's he doing? Getting himself killed?" Annabeth muttered weakly, still finding it difficult to stand on her wobbly legs. Had there been an enemy there, she wouldn't have fancied her chances. But end had thrown her on the opposite side, so she was in the home ground, well guarded by her friends.

"End. You have caused enough damage. We killed Gaea. We can kill you too. Just leave, and we'll forget anything happened."

"Hahahaha..." End gave a hearty laugh.

"If it was a request it was so rude it didn't even sound like one. If it was a threat it was so fragile and childish I had to laugh at it. Just because you defeated Gaea you think you stand a chance against me? Do you even know what I'm truly capable of? I haven't even begun yet, and I already got one of your little immortal friend killed and the other gravely injured. Your army is still outnumbered against ours. I find it amusing that you'd dare call the shots." End gave another small laugh.

Jason didn't know what to say. He didn't want to attack, he was saving his energy for one last attempt at destroying or at least weakening end.

"You amuse me demigod. And I have seen so much in this universe, I've reached a stage where what amuses me, impresses me. And when someone impresses me, I offer them a chance. Jason Grace, I know who you are. Join me. You know very well what's going to happen to this camp. To you. But if you join me, I can pardon you, grant you life." End said.

He was so confident of having placed an irresistible offer in front of Jason that he was already smirking.

"No," Jason stated firmly.

"No?" End said, raising an eyebrow.

"I think I said it clearly the first time, or are you too old to hear?." Jason mocked.

"You insolent piece of scum! I grant you life, and in exchange instead of falling on my feet and worshipping me, you have the nerve to mock me! Now I will kill you and all your friends painfully." He glowered at Jason.

"Yeah, good luck with that." He said. It was almost time. All he needed was one moment. And he got that moment when end gave another laugh, thinking how pathetically weak and naive Jason was being. He was distracted enough so Jason went for the move.

Jason had been stalling for time since the moment he'd stopped attacking because he was summoning as many ventis as he could and had collected as much air as he could. He let it all out under end's feet, making a very surprising end go high up in the air. Jason flew higher than End, summoned as much lightning as he could and concentrated all of it on his new temporal steel sword instead of end. He angled the sword in such a way that the sword broke into pieces and simultaneously the lightning hit a confused end. The attack created a mini blast. The beings exactly below end and Jason lost their balance, while the all the rest swayed a bit on their feet before finding ground. When the smoke cleared, both sides were stunned to find an ichor bleeding end from a thigh wound and a perfectly fine Jason Grace on the ground. Jason had expertly controlled the air and lightning so that the broken temporal steel pieces broke and embedded themselves in End's thigh, causing a wound that could kill him if he bled out. Though the situation didn't last long. End gave a loud roar and kicked Jason in the stomach. Jason is a son of Zeus tried to control the air around him and minimized the impact. However, instead of finishing off Jason, he bellowed

"Why have you stopped? Kill these insignificant creatures. Kill them all mercilessly." and so the war resumed. However, the campers had again found a ray of sunshine. Jason had indeed stunned end. However, in the process the son of Zeus had realized that Hellfire was the only way to kill end. They didn't have warriors powerful enough to destroy end. Jason was one of their strongest, and even with End caught off guard all he could do was inflict a thigh wound that would soon heal, and he broke his own sword in the process, not withstanding the few broken bones in his body that would take more than just a few moments to heal.

End though, wasn't in the mood to kill Jason yet. "Take this Godling captive. Hold him down and make him see the destruction of his home. Then I will plan an exquisite way to kill him." He gave that signature sinister smile. It sent a chill down the onlookers' spines. Jason was taken captive while Piper tried to clear her way to reach him. However they were so outnumbered that she'd kill a monster and two would spring up in its place, and there weren't many Hydras!

Jason wasn't strong enough to fend off the monsters and they eventually bound him against a tree. A few surrounded him while the others went off to fight. The war had resumed. End looked a bit hurt, but that only made him angrier. However, there was something strange about this war. Not Percy Jackson missing, not Skylar presumed dead, not Nico and Leo faded, that was kind of a part of the war. Death was imminent in war, unavoidable. So what could be even stranger? When you're in a war and one of the strongest fighters on the enemy side aims to defeat you yet doesn't kill you, that's strange. That man was Omega. Ex-commander Omega, to the onlookers, appeared to be enjoying defeating his own army, fighting off Elmont and Fritz single-handedly. And he wasn't losing, even 2 on 1, the fight looked evenly matched. Still missing the strange part?

Every swipe and stab coming from Omega wasn't aimed to kill his enemies. The aim and power indicated he knocked out his opponents and left them there. He didn't go for the kill. Even against Elmont and Fritz, he seemed to be holding back. He'd retreat from kicks midway, stop punches and on the whole play defensive without counter-attacking. Strange for such a powerful being, so what was the plan here? Were End and Omega secretly conspiring something more? Or did Omega simply not have the heart to murder the men who once followed him with blind faith? End looked too preoccupied to notice this, and if he did, he didn't comment, maybe because this was the plan all along. Taking the soldiers slave or something.

End was wreaking havoc on the campers. They were too helpless against such a force. Their friends and brothers and sisters were falling, and they could just watch helplessly and it seemed like they would soon meet the same fate. However, the fates weren't that cruel, because suddenly there was a huge shriek and a figure flew descended from the sky, using fire to destroy a huge chunk of the army. This creature though destroyed end's side of the army. And when end saw who it was, his nostrils flared, his eyes widened and he dramatically let out a shout "You! How dare you show your face again!" The intensity and power of the attack were so high that the war again came to a halt.

The creature just replied by destroying another chunk of the army. The campers cheered for this beast, not because it was killing the monsters, the army was still huge. They cheered because they knew if this particular creature had come to their aide, they could up their hopes of a certain someone swooping in to save the day like he usually does.

Once the creature had had its fun, he finally spoke, directing his words at end "How I dare show my face again? You know end, I repented attempting to kill you that day, but today I feel as though it would have done the world a great favor. Oh, by the way, my new friend has kept my name, and I prefer that. I'm Filos, companion of the feared Commander Hellfire. And I'm here to destroy you." Filos growled so menacingly that for once the people forgot how friendly he was to Percy and so the fearless monstrous side of him. The monsters in end's army nervously gulped. However, they had some more shocks in their store.

Instead of now going for the army, Filos attacked Omega himself. It was a very strategic move, seeing his own capabilities. It wasn't that he couldn't defeat end, he knew that there were two strong opponents, and End could be dealt with by Percy, he had a better chance at defeating Omega. If suppose, now he attacked End and died, he'd leave Percy with two very strong enemies to face single-handedly.

He dived to where Omega was and aimed a large fireball at him. Elmont and Fritz who were fighting Omega had to dive out of the way. Omega too had impressive reflexes and dived out of the way. However, Filos had just begun. He kept on attacking Omega with blinding speed. The onlookers could just watch in horrified fascination. Filos nosedived from high up and just as it looked he would crash on Omega, he glided down horizontal to the ground like an eagle and on his way attacked Omega with his razor sharp claws. The claws left Omega's arms bleeding and his sword flew out of his hand.

"Ahh! ENOUGH NOW! YOU WANNA PLAY, LET'S PLAY... BIRDIE!" Omega growled in frustration and anger at the flying beast. He ran a few steps, dived forward and rolled on the spot where his sword had fallen, managing to somehow pick it up. Then he waited in a semi-crouched position for Filos to attack again. Filos again came at him, again from high altitude. This time though, Omega was ready. As soon as Filos reached a certain altitude, Omega sprinted and in an impressive move, he used a tree's support to jump high in the air. He ran towards the tree and jumped on it, then with the momentum in his favor he still ran a few steps on the tree and jumped on the opposite direction, having achieved the desired altitude. The timing was so exquisite that when he dived, Filos was passing just that area. So Omega caught hold of his neck and held onto it like a sloth. That may have seemed too funny to watch, but against a flying enemy, that was the best thing he could've done. In fact, it was advantage Omega now.

Omega tried to stab Filos with his sword, but Filos saw through the corner of his eye and began shaking himself violently before the hit could connect in an attempt to get Omega to fall down. Omega didn't drop, but his sword slipped out of his hand. Everyone was watching the fight with interest now, the war, for the third time stopped. Now Omega decided to wring Filos' neck. However, Omega shook again, broke free and spewed fire at the ex-commander. Omega, with great effort, dodged the attack, shifting to the other side of where Filos had turned his neck while stringing in a choke hold. Filos decided to completely change his approach. If he couldn't make Omega fall down, the atmosphere and altitudes would. So instead of coming down, he began soaring high into the sky. Omega kept on strangling Filos, but Filos was very strong, and even though Omega was hurting him, it wasn't unbearable. He could still breathe through his lungs. As he went higher, Omega tightened his grip instead of losing it, now the urge to hold on to dear life more important than the one to strangle the Tallert. Meanwhile, Jason could only watch in his tied up predicament, hoping for the best outcome.

Filos though didn't keep on soaring. Now, he descended down onto some part of the camp. Omega couldn't see where they were headed but he knew they were headed down at dangerous speeds. He didn't feel the need to fear though, as he was immortal. The fall would injure him, but he would heal faster than the blood loss could make him fade. However, what Omega didn't realize was Filos wasn't looking to make him fade away, he was looking to permanently put away the traitor. Once and for all. Filos had stopped shaking and was saving his energy for one last violent shake. He soon did, and having caught Omega off guard, the ex-commander couldn't keep his balance and fell off Filos' back. He, however, hadn't expected where he was falling.

"No!" He dramatically screamed before there was no sound from him. Filos flew up and gave a cry of victory. The campers joy knew no bounds. The Army of Peace and the Council's Army rejoiced while the monsters were now very scared of the creature. End looked more dumbfounded than angry. Nobody knew how Filos killed Omega, they hadn't seen it. Just heard cries and Filos' victory cry.

"Ho..how...no! Omega! Get up and fight him! Where are you?!" End screamed in the direction where Filos had returned from.

"He can't ever return from where I sent him End. I dropped him in the armory room on temporal steel spears that were facing point upwards. I saw him die. He's gone now. And soon, you too will be gone" Filos shouted, new found confidence ruling his senses.

"Ha! Do you think you can do it alone? Where is that coward Perseus Jackson? I must say I at least expected a fight, however weak it could've been. Not a getaway filled with such cowardice! I can't believe he is still mourning the death of his good for nothing Princess! " End roared, realizing he was the last powerful person left in his side.

"I don't plan on running away End. I never did. In fact, I'm running the show here." Came a booming voice from a person who had just teleported directly onto Filos' back.

"Why don't I show how good I actually am End?" Came the voice of another person, a girl, who incidentally goes by the name of Skylar Void.

Percy Jackson had returned, and somehow with his girlfriend, who was presumed dead.

* * *

 **(A/N: PLEASE REVIEW, CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS APPRECIATED. CHAPTER IS UNEDITED, SORRY FOR ANY TYPOS)**


	30. 29 The One With The Suicidal Villain

_(Recap: "Ha! You think you can do it alone? Where is that coward Perseus Jackson? I must say I at least expected a fight, however weak it could've been. Not a getaway filled with such cowardice! I can't believe he is still mourning the death of his good for nothing Princess! " End roared, realizing he was the last powerful person left in his side._

 _"I don't plan on running away, End. I never did." Came a booming voice from a person who had just teleported directly onto Filos' back._

 _"Why don't I show how good I actually am End?" Came the voice of another person, a girl, who incidentally goes by the name of Skylar Void._

 _Percy Jackson had returned, and somehow with his girlfriend, who was presumed dead.)_

* * *

 **Ch. 29**

* * *

There were murmurs in the crowd, the monsters now visibly scared. They'd lost Omega and Gaea all with the two most powerful beings in the enemy camp not even present. Now they were both here, and Gaea and Omega were dead. On top of that, the vehicle on which they were was also pretty intimidating, seeing as it had single-handedly destroyed Omega. Filos.

The campers' joys knew no bounds. They rejoiced and cheered and chanted the names "Percy" "Percy" and Skylar" "Skylar" until their throats became dry. Sure, the opposition army was huge, but now they had Percy and Skylar. And as of now, it didn't matter where they were or how Skylar was alive. All that mattered was they were there now, and Gaea and Omega weren't.

"Percy Jackson. You and your friends have caused me a lot of trouble. I don't know how that girl is alive, but she won't be for long. NONE OF YOU WILL BE!" He screamed the last statement as if daring someone to oppose him. As it happened, that someone ended up being the 'that' girl he'd just made a reference to.

"Omega was a fool. I'm the Princess of this Universe End. Chaos' daughter. You wanna go against my father? You'll soon realize you can't even get past his daughter." Skylar confidently challenged. She looked almost as if she'd gone away on some field trip in the forests. Some cut marks and wound marks from injuries that had already healed, a round mark around both her wrists signaling - the marks of when she was chained. Apart from that, she didn't look like she'd died and come back at all. In fact, she looked pretty battle ready.

"So Omega couldn't kill you. That's what I was wondering. How could that creature kill Omega? He didn't do he. He never dropped Omega on temporal steel. He died because of a broken oath and you wanted to make a theatrical entrance. I got it right didn't I?" End smiled contentedly as if he'd just figured out a great puzzle.

"Oh look at that kid! So delighted on realizing the most obvious thing in the universe! You act like you figured out how to make Dionysus love this camp or something End. Grow up. Wow, hadn't expected I'd ever say this to one of the oldest beings in the Universe." Percy mocked. All the campers and the army who had heard of Dionysis and his exploits at camp laughed. Even some of the monsters gave a throaty chuckle, all though when End gave them a look they shut up.

"Enough talk Perseus Jackson. You ran away for long enough. Get down here from that pathetic creature and get ready to die!" End bellowed, now pretty angry at how this war was shaping itself. However, whatever was happening wasn't enough to intimidate or scare him in the least. It just irritated him. "Huh, these puny earthlings! More time till I get my hands on Earth." He'd think frustrated.

Percy though was currently on cloud 9. Just like he'd hoped, everything was going according to plan. He'd heard the murmurs about Nico, Leo, and Hazel. But he was a trained warrior. The first thing you train a warrior is that emotions may be important in life, but they have no place whatsoever during a fight. So he kept his feelings aside, merely concentrating on the fact that Skylar was alive, fine and standing right beside him, hands held.

Percy whispered something to Skylar. For a moment it looked like Skylar would disagree, but she hesitantly nodded. In a nice show of acrobatics, she gracefully jumped 20 feet down from Filos' back and onto the head of a hippocampus. In a quick move, she separated its head from its body leaving golden dust in its wake. Seeing this both the sides got the signal. The war resumed, for what looked like the final time. The night attack had turned into a day attack, the sundown spreading beauty and positivity throughout the Camper and army ranks.

Skylar joined Fritz and the Council's Army while Percy was still on Filos. The rejuvenated 'good' side looked so menacing now that to defeat this side seemed like a daunting task. End bore the brunt of the pressure. He knew he'd have to kill Percy and hope his still outnumbered but highly demotivated army could defeat Skylar and the rest or at least weaken her enough that after Percy died he could kill her. He cursed Omega for not carrying out such a stupid task of killing an imprisoned woman. He kept on thinking 'It was so easy. One job. Strangle her, that too when she's chained to a wall. And he still made a mess of it. The pathetic weakling.' However, he was still more irritated than scared. A bit unsure now, but not enough that it would rattle his self-belief and confidence.

While End was busy cursing, the war had begun, and the campers got one more thing to celebrate about. Grover and the wild had just cheered in victory against the forest attack. Casualties had been heavy, but they'd still done an awe-inspiring job seeing how outnumbered they were. End was now more unsure, and Percy was waiting for this moment. He always believed that a war was never won solely on fights. The death of your morales is the beginning of your destruction. That's what he hoped. To weaken End as much as he could mentally and then boast about it to further decrease his morale. End didn't realize that and instead of attacking Percy just kept on huffing angrily at how his enemies were mercilessly running through his army. Nothing seemed to be going his way today.

Percy meanwhile had heroically stood up on Filos' back and walked on his wings before jumping down and landing on his feet. An attempt to boost confidence in his men and intimidate End. End saw this and readied himself for attacking. He made the first move. He charged at Percy with full force and wielded his sword in an arc to cut off Percy's throat.

Percy, instead of using orthodox sword maneuvers to block it, used a more modern technique. He ducked under the attack and poked End's legs with riptide. End lost his balance as even riptide had temporal steel in it that hurt end. Percy stood up from the crouch and tried slashes after slashes, stabs after stabs. End managed to detect or block them all somehow.

He was an excellent warrior. In a while he had not only continuously blocked Percy's attacks, he had counter-attacked a lot of times and now it looked as if Percy was on defensive and End was on the offensive. Percy wasn't a fool to not realize he was being pushed into a corner. So again he decided to change tactics. He suddenly jumped a few steps back, sheathed one of his swords and raised his palms.

"Enough with the childish fight End. Let's End this thing now. Ahh... No pun intended of course." Percy said smirking confidently. Somehow he knew End would eventually lose to him. Suddenly, he seemed to be concentrating on something. And he felt the familiar warmth of Purple flames dancing on his palms. End nervously gulped. If there was one poison potent enough to kill an immortal without giving him a chance, it was hellfire.

Percy, now wreathed completely in a purple aura, charged at End. He slashed End's thigh, reopening the wound caused by Jason. End gruffed and changed his stance so that the injured foot was backward. Percy tried to aim hellfire at that thigh, but to Percy's astonishment, End merely put his blade in between to deflect the fire and it hit the neaeby tree, burning it to ash almost as fast as you could blink. End was now wary of Percy. They clashed swords and shield and went back and forth. Sometimes Percy gained the upper hand while sometimes End did. Percy had just counterattacked End when End roared 'Enough!' and, with all he had, brought down his blade on Percy's.

However, Percy was just about to attack and the angle, unfortunately, made end's attack hit Percy's sword-arm wrist and riptide slipped out of his hand. He cursed and backtracked as fast as he could, hoping he could draw End near the river where he'd have an advantage, while riptide would soon return to his pocket. Yeah, that still happened. The difference was, Percy didn't sheath it or cover it anymore, so not many people knew.

The plan worked wonders as Percy's original parentage momentarily slipped from End's mind and he thought he'd almost won. Percy, of course, had other plans. As soon as End was close enough, he stopped and waited for End to make his move. End, thinking Percy had stopped at the riverbed as he had nowhere to run now, smirked victoriously and attempted to bring down his blade on Percy. However, Percy's sword had returned just in time. Just when end was about to stab, he uncapped riptide and blocked the blade. End was so taken aback by the sudden appearance of the blade that he unknowingly took a few steps into the water. Percy couldn't be more thankful to the fates. He motioned with his hand and two arms made up if water pushed end further into the river.

End widened his eyes, thinking that an Olympian had intervened. But then he saw Percy controlling the water and realized what a fool he'd been. It was his plan all along, to call End into a river where Percy had an advantage, but End couldn't see that. Now he was more unsure of his victory than ever. He went all out, using his powers. On the ground, it could have been deadly for Percy. But in his home turf, he felt almost invulnerable. End was a very difficult opponent though, and Percy had already been tired when he'd first entered the river. A bit rejuvenated now, he hoped he could devise a plan to kill End before End managed to take the fight out of the water.

The two super powerful beings had been at it for so long that even they were tired. Meanwhile, the campers and their allies had decimated almost half the army. Vials of Greek fire and assorted modern arms were brought in some time after Percy returned, courtesy an order Reyna had given to a demigod arms manufacturer before she had taken the hit. That helped a lot, it saved more lives than you could count. However, the main villain was still not dying. But the way things were, the demigods were beginning to hope it wouldn't be too long before Percy was done with end. He had the upper hand more often now. Soon, their hopes soared and their eyes witnessed a wonder like never before when their hero used a combination of all three - Chaos powers, water powers, and hellfire together in one attack.

Percy knew that end was pretty weak now and soon it would all be over. So he decided to speed things up a little. He attacked end relentlessly with newfound ferocity while also concentrating on creating something underwater using his Chaos powers. Once he was done, he decided it was time to use it. Hw couldn't control the objects he could make, just use them. However, he could certainly control the medium by which the object was made - water. And that too inside a river.

End was growing weaker and weaker. Percy's energy too would have long sapped by now had he not been in the water since so long. But as it turned out End was foolish enough to let him, so he took full advantage. Percy kicked end back making him fall under water. But he didn't let him go deep. Just on the surface. He controlled the water beneath end and balled his arms in a fist and raised them up. And up went end. So high was the built pressure of water that end went soaring into the air for almost 10 seconds, which were much more than what Percy needed. He raised the bed full of sharp spikes he had created using his other hand and now he released his hold of the water he had used to push end up in the air, letting gravity do its job and push let end plummet to his own death. He used that freed hand to light the spikes with hellfire.

End, on one glance, had a horrified expression at what lay beneath him. But it was too late. He crashed into the spikes and a painful "Ahh!" echoed into the day. The sound soon stopped, and a huge blast followed. Everyone froze to see what would happen. But all they saw was Percy standing with his blade ready and eyes curious to know what had happened, while golden dust was flowing where end had been. For a moment everyone was left speechless. Skylar was the first to recover and said "He did it! It's over!"

Soon there were a lot of 'It's over!s' and 'We won!' and other sentiments. The remaining monsters fled in fear, and the campers were about to rush to the infirmary to check on their injured friends. However, the fates weren't that kind after all. To the 'good' sides utter horror, the golden dust started swiveling in the air. They could hear End's loud booming laughter from all over the place.

They all resumed their battle positions and became alert. Percy had his eyes on the swiveling golden dust. And in front of his eyes, the dust combined together to form a figure. First the legs, then the torso, then the hands, then finally the face. End was somehow reborn, and that caught Percy so off guard that he didn't see when end aimed a powerful kick on his chest and sent Percy flying out of the water. He laughed and said "Hahaha! I don't believe you punny creatures thought killing me would be so easy, let alone possible in the first place. I am primordial. Only the element of Chaos cannot kill me. You need the element of Void as well."

"What..what are you saying? I just killed you!" Percy asked puzzled at this new revelation.

"Oh, you punny demigod! I admire your skills. But face it, you're no match for me. You see an element is something that has one's power embedded inside it. After your flying friend here attacked me that day, my father called me separately and told me about it. He created a cube of temporal steel and handed it to me saying I should keep it safe so that nobody can harm me or my brother in the future! Little did he know that I'd use that same thing against my brother one day! You see, you have to kill him once like you right now had killed me. Then you mutter an enchantment and activate the power of the cube. Then you kill me again, and this time you throw the cube at me once I'm dust. The cube will do its thing and I'll stay dead."

"Suicidal much, End? You do realize you just laid out the whole plan on how we're supposed to kill you right? Seriously, I didn't even you could be that stupid, guess I overestimated you." Percy laughed while also raising an eyebrow.

"Ha! You can't ever get that cube. So what's their point. I told you all this to make you realize how helpless you are, knowing how to kill me, knowing you have the power to kill me, but not the right ingredient." End confidently boasted and let out a huge laugh.

"Oh no no. You misunderstand me. I didn't ask why you laid out the plan that could kill you. I asked why you laid out the facts that we already knew about and wasted our time." Now it was Percy's turn to smirk.

"There's no way you knew about it, and even if you did, it doesn't matter. Because you don't have the cube right now, and you can't escape from me today." End challenged with an evil smirk.

"Oh yeah? Then what's that?" Percy said painting behind End towards Filos and someone else.

End froze, so did everyone. Mostly in confusion, but some *cough* end *cough* in horror like they'd never felt before. Riding Filos was an old friend of Percy's his hands carrying the exact cube end has described.

"Hello, Percy. I hope I'm not too late to give you this?" he said and threw the cube at Percy, who caught it reflexively. The figure jumped from Filos' back and joined Percy's side. Meanwhile, Skylar too had gone on to join the two. She stood on one side of Percy while the figure on the other. She replied to the figure "Oh no, welcome to the party. You're just in time."

Percy added "Or we should rather say, welcome back to the party. He's apparently been dead after all! Haven't you, _Omega_?"

 **(A/N: PLEASE REVIEW, CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS APPRECIATED.)**


	31. 30 - The One With the Twists

_( Recap: "Oh yeah? Then what's that?" Percy said painting behind End to Filos and someone else. _

_End froze, so did everyone. Mostly in confusion, but some *cough* end *cough* in horror like they'd never felt before. Riding Filos was an old friend of Percy's his hands carrying the exact cube end had described._

 _"Hello, Percy. I hope I'm not too late to give you this?" he said and threw the cube at Percy, who caught it reflexively. The figure jumped from Filos and joined Percy's side. Meanwhile, Skylar too had gone on to join the two. She stood on one side of Percy while the figure on the other. She replied to the figure "Oh no, welcome to the party. You're just in time."_

 _Percy added "Or we should rather say, welcome back to the party. He's apparently been dead after all. Haven't you, Omega?")_

* * *

 **PERCY'S POV**

End was confused more than anything else.

"Ho...how? I saw that… I saw that _stupid bird_ kill you!"

"Oh please. You actually thought he'd throw me on some weapons and I'd die? Just like that?"

A being's face couldn't have been more confused than End's was at this point. It was pretty comical.

"This war is so confusing! First, the girl springs up from the dead and destroys half my army, and then you appear out of NOWHERE! With **that** cube! How?!"

Even the campers were murmuring amongst themselves, utter confusion eminent in their faces. I couldn't blame them. Confusion was what it was meant to create.

"Leave the thinking to the adults and concentrate on dying end," Skylar said.

"You filthy daughter of Chaos... You... You-"

"Tskk Tskk. Leave the cursing to the adults as well end." Skylar cut him off. Then she began a string of Greek words directing them at end, words that the school would probably expel you for using. The campers just stared at her, not used to seeing her swear openly like that. But Skylar is...well, Skylar.

"Badass," I muttered. She smirked in response, while end stared at her, his facial expressions changing with every passing second. In the end (Oh the puns, when will they end? Probably when End ends... Oh uhm... ) he settled for anger.

"Doesn't matter. I'll kill you! I'll kill you all! I'm End! Nobody can defeat me!" end roared.

Cue a roar of laughter from Omega.

"Haha! Could you be more naive and stupid, End? I mean, look around you! Your army is either dead or has deserted you, Gaea is dead, you are up against all the three of us plus the campers and the wild, and we have the cube! How you still hope to have a chance is beyond me." Omega said.

End was staring at Omega with a bit of confusion and anger. I decided to end end's misery (oh the irony) and tell him what was actually going on.

"Stop making that dumb face end. I'll tell you what happened here. Our intel reports had confirmed your numbers, and bluntly speaking we had no chance. To top it off Reyna was down and Gaea was with you. I didn't know what to do. When Skylar and Elmont told me that you and Gaea were attacking the same day, at first I was scared, but then I realized the situation was an opportunity. To destroy you both on the same day and finish this war. Grover was obviously on my mind since the day I came here, but I needed to wait for the right moment. I did. That same day I went to Grover and asked for his help. Him being the kind soul that he is, agreed to help, burying his old hatchets. But I knew if we wanted to stand a chance, we'd have to do more. So on my way to Grover, I thought hard and decided that the only way to defeat you would be to infiltrate your ranks from inside. That, of course, is easier said than done. I couldn't buy a monster, and I needed that spy in a position of power. Impossible. Then I wondered. What if instead of sending an unknown nobody to gain your trust, I sent a powerful ally your way. Skylar crossed my mind, but I didn't want to hide the spy's identity or it could prove the end if revealed before time. Besides, nobody from the current army could be used as we were already short on numbers. So I thought, and it wasn't long before Omega crossed my mind. Omega is one guy I can rely on and even retired, I knew that tough times called for big favors. So after I met Grover, I set out to search for him. It wasn't long before I found him, I knew where to look. I briefed him about the situation, asked for pointers and laid my plan in front of him. He immediately agreed, not a moment of hesitation."

"So you sent Omega to me. That I get, but how on earth did he kidnap Skylar, kill her, then bring her back from the dead?" End asked still confused. Annabeth facepalmed at End's stupidity while most of the others were looking at end like he was the biggest fool in the whole wide world. That could actually be true seeing how low his IQ seemed to be.

"Some people are foolish, like Gaea or Kronos. You, end are beyond foolish. I bet Lord Chaos would be having a good laugh if he was hearing this. Omega never kidnapped Skylar. Skylar willingly went with him after decimating your tiny army. Omega then tied Skylar and all that followed was merely acting. Oscar-winning performance though. Those wounds, they were created with little pain. They were in places where it would hurt less and look very painful. Then an iris message was planned. The same one that Omega sent us at camp, threatening to kill Skylar if I didn't back off along with my armies. Skylar acted beautifully, and that concluded phase one."

"But you just said that Skylar didn't know about the plan. You came up with the plan while on your way to meet that satyr."

"Good, you're finally asking the right questions. You see, the plan was fixed even before I met Grover. And I needed Skylar's help, so I sent a letter to Skylar via Grover. I trusted Grover the most, so I believed he wouldn't read the letter or let anyone intercept it. The letter just said 'Northside, trust the Commandy'. Northside is where she was to meet Omega, and Commandy referred to Omega, his nickname me and Skylar sometimes called him by."

"But I intercepted that iris message! And it would have been a major setback when you realized that I didn't believe you'd actually quit!" End said proudly.

"Back to your stupid self aren't you. We did not only hope, we knew that the iris messages were being intercepted by you. We counted on you not believing that I'm leaving, we counted on that message being enough for Omega to gain your trust. And that's precisely what happened. We laid a plan, you fell for it. Once we knew the fish was trapped, all we had to do was let the hook invite you more before pulling you up and cutting you off. So Omega dug deeper into your lair, found evidence of your conditional immortality. He dug deeper and found your cube. He, of course, couldn't get it out while you and Gaea were there. So we staged a fight wherein Filos fake killed him and that earned him the time to get back and get the cube. The very one in my hand." I smirked.

End was stunned into silence. He couldn't believe he'd been fooled so easily by us. Well, we're not amateurs.

"You may have done everything perfectly. But she is still alive" End said while pointing to Skylar.

"Which means he will have to give up his soul to the Styx. He swore an oath that he had killed Skylar." End smiled victoriously, only to be bogged down once again.

"The oath, if you remember correctly, went somewhat like this :

 _"Leave her? Oh, excuse me. I forgot to swear to something else. I swear, Percy that when you go to that museum... You will indeed see Skylar, although she might be a little... Unconscious. "_

 _"Unconscious? What do you mean?"_

 _"Oh you know, Unconscious as in when somebody dies?"..._

 _..._

 _"Have it your way. I just swore by the Styx. And still, if you're not satisfied, I swear on the Styx that I used these very hands of mine to strangle her."_

"Play of words." End whispered, shellshocked.

"Yes. I did find Skylar unconscious, and omega had indeed strangled her. But only with a normal chord and only until she passed out. In normal terms, that was not at all fatal. Those were the parts he swore to. He just combined her death with them, but never actually swore to that. So no End, Omega didn't break any vow. He upheld his side, and he's safe from the wrath of Lady Styx. You though might have to worry about your safety now." I threatened, taking a step forward. The other two followed suit while the campers watched the show.

Omega attacked end, but end blocked it. Skylar came from the other side and attacked him. She rattled his defenses, but couldn't get through since end pushed Omega back and countered her. While that exchange was taking place, Omega recovered, charged again and hit a bullseye. End recoiled from the pain in his stomach and Skylar charged again. They kept mercilessly pounding end until he was close to being destroyed. Then they motioned me, and I threw the cube I was holding on one of end's injuries. The sight that followed was gross and clearly not meant for kids. The cube, as soon as it touched the injury, began pulling end's ichor slowly from his body. The cube was literally sucking End dry. End kept on weakening and finally fell on the ground with a pale face, no blood left in him. All the while he was screaming in agony and terror, gut-wrenching screams one after another. A few campers had to cover the eyes of the younger campers , there were campers as young as 7 years after all.

Finally, the scene was over, so was end, so was the war. At first the campers just looked at the sight, some half fearing a reincarnation like the last time. That group included us three, the cube was an unused legend piece and we weren't sure of its effects. However, when nothing happened in about 5 minutes, Skylar said "I think it's over. He's gone."

Once again the campers started celebrating. All the couples kissed passionately, that included me and Skylar. We had done it. We had defeated an enemy we were hopelessly outnumbered against, with just one plan and a bit of improvisation.

* * *

 **(A/N: SO THAT'S IT, THE WAR IS OVER. AN EPILOGUE WILL FOLLOW SOON. REVIEW, IT MOTIVATES A GREAT DEAL.)**


	32. 31 - The Last One

**Ch. 31**

* * *

 **PERCY'S POV:**

There were celebrations all over the place, Zeus had suddenly shown up after the war and had as usual attempted to gloat about how his children and how the campers under his authority had won the war blah blah blah. You get the picture. But this time I wasn't having any of it.

"Zeus, with all due respect, all you did was desert us when we needed you. You set the worst example a king could ever set. You set the worst example a father could ever set. You failed the campers. End laughed at us and mocked us that you weren't going to be any help. And he was correct. So stop gloating before I end this war with the sad note of your demise." I threatened seriously.

"You can't talk to me that way Jackson! Who do you think you are!"

The words had barely left his mouth when my whole army stood in a guard in front of me taking offensive positions against Zeus. Elmont and Gregory were at the forefront, their arms raised against the king of Olympus in a 'Dare you' manner. Zeus suddenly realized that I wasn't the old Percy Jackson, that I withheld powers far beyond him and authority that rivaled Chaos'. He nervously gulped.

"That's who I am Zeus. My third in command has power enough to destroy you forever, my second in command can knock the big three out of the park singlehandedly with the authority to strip you of your kingship with merely a few words. The real question here is, who are you? A king? A ruler? Ever since the end of the second giant war, you've become more of a tyrannical ruler. I have the authority to order your death, Zeus, the only reason I'm not doing it is it'd disturb the balance of nature. So watch yourself, the balance isn't a reason good enough to hold me back for much longer." I warned in a cold tone. Zeus just nodded.

"Zeus. This is your last chance. Be a king while also being there for your family. Don't misuse your authority. Otherwise, as the in-charge of this planet, I'll not only make Poseidon king instead of you, I'll have you removed from the Olympian Council with a non-reversible verdict and you'll be out once and for all." Elmont threatened.

"I.. I'm sorry. I'll be more careful!" Zeus squealed in fear, cowering.

"Good. Now leave. Let us celebrate this win the Chaos way. We'll show the campers how fun it actually is when you don't have to watch that you don't insult a God by mistake." I said and dismissed him. He nodded once and teleported out.

The campers were all looking at me like they'd seen a ghost, not used to seeing one of their own rattle the egoistic king of the Gods so badly. But it was necessary. I don't have the power to order his death, I lied. Only Chaos can decide to end a high ruler's life forever. I can just kill him so that he is reborn again. But he didn't know that, so that got the job done. He'll be more careful now.

"What? Stop staring at him and let's celebrate." Elmont said to the campers.

They nodded enthusiastically, wondering how good a job we'd do of throwing a party.

But I interrupted.

"Wait. We party later. First, bury the dead with honor. We'll use a way that no one has ever used. We will party over the funerals."

"What! That's absurd! You want to insult the dead by partying over their funerals!" One of the campers screamed.

"That's outrageous! You can't undermine their sacrifice like that!" Another said.

"Enough. First, listen. I'm not saying you should party because they're dead. I'm saying you should party because you're alive while they're dead, which is what they probably wanted. All of you safe. Just think. The ones that died, they're your brothers, your sisters, your loved ones. They're family. And family doesn't mourn in a victory. They celebrate together and cry together. Today we don't celebrate the victory. We honor the sacrifice of the dead. After a proper funeral, instead of cremating them, we'll party with them present.

We'll party together. We'll show them that their sacrifice has been invaluable to us and that we respect them so much that we can't ever party without them. Because if not for them, there wouldn't have been a party. There wouldn't have been us. A war is won with determination, and they didn't lack that. So not only today but in every party, you should remember their names." I ended, taking a deep breath.

It was a new idea, but I wanted to do something different to honor the dead this time, with so many wars, so many deaths and each sacrifice forgotten just with a proper burial.

"I see what you're saying. If I was dead, I'd not want you to bury me, then party with my death looming over your heads like a dark shadow either. Just think. Silena, Charles, the hunters, the Amazons, every person that has ever died for us. We always think of them so sad. We never see how they died protecting us and are in a better place. I'm not saying we should be happy about it, I'm saying we should honor their deaths. Their memories. For most of us, their memories open old wounds that can never heal, that just fade away over time. I still remember when Selena used to advise me to put some makeup and I'd just ignore it. But whenever I think of her, I tend to think only one thing now. 'She's gone.' Instead, why not ponder over the happy times, cherish the beautiful memories I had with her? That goes for everyone here. Think about it." Annabeth said while wiping a tear from her eye.

All the campers eventually nodded.

Incantations were spoken and golden drachmas left in the coffins so that they could have the money to board the ride to the underworld. Casualties had been heavy. We'd lost about 60 campers, 12 soldiers from the army of Peace and surprisingly (or not) The Council's Army had come out scathed, but with every member a survivor.

Then, the most novel way of celebrating began. Just what I'd suggested after Annabeth's moving words. This party didn't have any kind of lavish food or drinks or music. No pomp no reverence. No grandeur no splendor. Instead, people - friends of the dead.

They took chances in narrating the happy memories they had with the deceased. Those embarrassing, funny moments that made most of them break down at the end.

Even a few guys from my army went on stage and spoke. There was one thing in common in all the speeches. Almost every person broke down into tears at the end, but with a smile rather than a sad face. People were touched but in q positive way. They were motivated by the deaths of their loved ones to live the life that the deceased would have expected them to live. An honorable, honest and loyal one. One more proof of the change in their mindset was the fact that everyone while concluding, instead of ending it with the usual 'I'll miss you' ended it with 'No matter where I am, I'll always remember you.'

It was a very moving moment for everyone. They were happy yet sad, content yet with a nagging thought of having something taken away from them. In the end, Chiron spoke for each camper. The most emotional scene so far.

That guy literally spoke with names of those 60 campers, listing their likes, dislikes, habits, some specific memories related to them. The speech lasted about an hour and had everyone in tears including me and my army and everyone who probably didn't even know the dead that well. This guy was really like a father to everyone here. He himself was in tears.

Once he'd composed himself, he began once more "That was touching. And relieving at the same time. Thank you, Percy. We all feel a lot better now. Thank you. For everything. For helping us despite what we did to you, for being there for us, for suggesting us this wonderful way of celebration. We are forever indebted to you." Chiron said, smiling affectionately at me like he used to. That smile still melted me. Still made me feel so secure.

"You made a mistake, we are past it. That's what family does. In the process, I found another family and now I'm blessed with two. So no matter what you do, you were and always will be my family. Nobody can take it away from me.

I did what I had to in order to protect my family. Both my families. It was an honor allying with these campers. They are doing excellent under you, hope they excel at whatever they do." I stood up and said.

Chiron came forward and engulfed me in a tight embrace. Eventually, all the immortal campers led by Frank and Hazel came and it became a group hug. The hug consisted of, in the campers' words legendary people. A photo was taken and circulated, and it came to be known as the legendary hug. I smiled a bit when I first heard the name, but Sky felt it was a cute gesture.

Once the night was over, we all went to sleep in our respective cabins after burying the dead with proper burial rites. Omega built his own little cabin beside ours. Yeah, I went to our makeshift cabin to see Skylar. I knocked on her door and her sweet 'come in' invited me inside.

"Hey."

"Hey." I sat beside her.

I just kept staring at her beautiful face.

"What? Is there something on my face?"

"No. You just look lovely."

She blushed a bit before her expressions became serious.

"What?"

"How are you feeling? Like really. All this while we haven't gotten much time to talk about it."

"About what? I'm fine. We won the war, I'm happy!"

"Yeah, but what about your feelings towards camp?"

I sighed. "Yeah, I hated them when I came here, but I can't blame them. It's difficult to be a leader. You need to put yourself and your loved ones behind the priority which is keeping the majority safe. And like I said. They're family, and family forgives. So I let go."

"I know you let go. What I'm asking is how much have you let go?"

"All of it! Why? Why are you asking this? Okay I know you're twisting the main point. Cut it out and tell me what's bothering you."

She sighed and said, "Do you want to stay here again now?"

"Of course I wanna stay here! I don't understand your question! I forgave them so why wouldn't I wanna stay here?"

"Like...sometimes when you're on a mission or like... forever?"

Realization of Skylar's entire conversation and hesitation hit me like a truck. I took her hand in mine and softly said "Sky, It's true that I've forgiven them. But what they did, came with a consequence. I found the Primordial Council where everyone treats me like their own like they care. The Creator of the universe proudly boasts about me as his right hand. And I have this awesome girlfriend who is right now feeling needlessly insecure. So tell me, why would I wanna stay here?"

"Really?"

"I swear on the name of the Primordial Council Skylar, that I'll never leave your side. If I do the Council deem fit to end me." I said staring in her blue orbs.

"Percy. That kind of commitment... I just asked a question, and it would have been understandable if you wanted to stay. I didn't want you to say this. Now if you go back on your word anytime in the future, the Council will be bound to kill you! I can't ask you to do that for me!"

"You don't have to ask. You deserve it." I replied softly and caressed her cheek lovingly.

"Thank you, Percy. It means a lot." She smiled and kissed me on my cheek.

"Hey you know, I should be asking you whether you're alright or not. You were kidnapped by an evil psycho after all!" I joked.

"Oh please. That act was a piece of cake."

"It was difficult to see, though. Even when I knew you were acting all along. I don't know what I'd have done if it was real."

She held my hand tightly and squeezed it.

"It wasn't real. And we'll never have to worry about it ever being real. Because I trust you'll never let anything happen to me no matter what. And even if you're not around, they say I'm pretty powerful myself! " She smirked.

"Oh that you are. You are one dangerous woman!" I said and kissed her. She kissed back passionately and, what followed was a blissful night.

The next morning I woke up with Skylar by my side.

"Hmm... I can get used to this." I said as she smiled.

"You better not. I don't think my dad is gonna like this a lot." She giggled. I'd never heard her giggle. I just thought it was so immature for someone like her. But I loved that sound. Then I realized what she'd said and straightened up.

I always end up forgetting that not only is her father my boss but he's also the most powerful being in the universe.

I jumped out of bed, put some clothes on, kissed her once and went to my room to clean up.

Once I was in my normal clothes without any armor, I sat on my bed thinking about a few things. The war honestly had been better than what I'd hoped. The day those two had told me that Gaea and End would be attacking the same day, I'd just visualized the campers up against both of them and their army.

Then I came up with plans in the way. First the spy, then Skylar's kidnapping, then her return and so on. Although it sounded easy, there was a risk in almost every step. There was no margin of error. And neither of us made any. A perfectly flawless execution.

I rose up and went outside the tent to see that everyone had woken up and the guys were preparing to leave. Some of them were rearing to leave, to go back home after a long mission.

I saw Chiron and the immortal campers talking about something. I went over there and cleared my throat. They jumped a bit and realized they didn't even know I was right behind them.

"Damn kelp head. You are almost as stealthy as a huntress." Thalia nodded appreciatively.

"Coming from you pinecone face, that's a huge compliment so thank you."

"Don't get used to it. Anyways, you're leaving already? Why the rush? The war just ended yesterday and today you'll go back?" She said.

"Have to thals. I have a job there. The world can literally end if I don't hurry up. And besides, the Council needs us. With two members gone and Lord Chaos not having either the commander or the sergeant or the third in command, there'll be total Chaos up there. But I'll come back and meet you guys when I have the chance."

"Yeah. Don't forget us, my boy." Chiron said.

"I can't forget what's etched in my heart Chiron. They are forever my friends and you my second father. Nothing can change that."

Chiron smiled and hugged me. While we were talking, the boys had assembled outside and were waiting by the ship. Skylar came and hugged everyone. But for some reason, she was smiling very broadly.

"What happened? " Annabeth asked.

"What happened is that I just had a call from Celestio and you're all invited to visit the city by my dad! Also, someone's waiting for you!"

"That's great! But uh..we don't know anyone there except Reyna who's in a coma... So who can wait for us?" Hazel asked stupidly. Annabeth nudged him

"Oh of course! Reyna's awake!"

"I can only imagine how much pissed she's gonna get when she realizes she missed the action! Let's go record her expressions! Travis grinned evilly. Yeah. One more example of how some people never change.

And so we all went to celestio that day. We showed them the planet. Travis even whistled at the vastness and beauty. Both the brothers indeed recorded Reyna's expressions, but she was so furious she was tossing aside whatever she could lay her hands on, and the camera happened to be one of them, so it broke.

Finally, she calmed down and then they were taken into the city where people kept on saluting me and bowing to me. It was a bit weird, but I couldn't help it. This is how I was perceived here. As their leader. And that's how it would always be. That is who I knew I would always be - Somebody that they look upto.

A leader.

A hero.

 **(A/N: AND SO IT ENDS. THANKS FOR STICKING WITH ME UNTIL THE END. IF YOU CARE ENOUGH, PLEASE RATE THIS BOOK OUT OF 10. IT WOULD MEAN A LOT TO ME. THANKS IN ADVANCE! :))**


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